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PS pulley accessibility?

luxuryrules

Active Member
Joined
Aug 16, 2024
Messages
41
Location
USA
My XLR/V(s)
2006 XLR-V
Want to pre-emptively examine the PS belt tensioner and pulley, as I’ve been advised this can be a significant failure and I understand the parts are a concern.

Book says, remove all belts, then remove the two bolts holding the PS belt tensioner, then three bolts for the PS pulley. Makes sense. Appears there’s almost no clearance between this stuff and my PS rack and lines

I was figuring, check tensioner for play, and re-lube the shaft of the PS pulley.

Any advice for getting to these things? Is it just a pain to do or are there any other removals to make access a bit easier?
 
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Thats pretty much it. pulley slides off the splined pump. I rebuild the tensioners and the pulleys. I also have a couple of pumps left . the tensioner is very strong takes 40 foot pounds to compress it . if it has loose play its bad. If its leaking its bad. 500$ for one when new. I rebuild them for 150 or 100 if doing them with the pulley. Look on the backside of the pulley drive for any rusty brown dust. Thats a sign its starting to wear. If you should get it off you can send me a photo of the splines and i can advise. Pulley rebuild is 300-400 depending if its come loose and worn the housing.very little grease but i like antiseise if you have it. Ive seen them fail at 20,000 miles and be fine at 160,000 so really hard to pinpoint the reason.. I usually do about one a month
 
This is quite a job. Got all three belts off - took an extension on my breaker bar to move the PS pulley tensioner. And magically small hands to get the upper bolt on that tensioner haha. Looking forward to putting it back together, I'm sure it's a piece of cake!

Book says the PS pulley has three bolts. I can get two (the ones at the top) but the one on the bottom has a clearance issue with the AC line. I can get a wrench on it, not a socket, but as soon as I get it more than a couple turns out I'm hitting the AC line, and it's a hard line so I've got no wiggle room. Are the clearances supposed to be this tight?

Guess the questions are: can the LC3 PS pump pulley be removed without disconnecting an AC line to move it? Or should I be doing something else to remove the pulley?

Followup question is, after pulley is separated from the pump, do I try to drop it out the bottom of the engine bay or lift it out the top? I've got the PS reservoir in the way up top, and a bunch of PS & AC lines in the way on the bottom.
 
There should be clearance to get the bolt out. Not sure why its not. Ive not done one in a couple of years . when the uplley is off i think its over to the side and oit the top. I believe the sway bar is in the way to drop out the bottom. you should not have to remove the ac lines to get the bolt out.
 
Adding for reference and future searchability, the doco I’m seeing. It appears to be LC3 specific.
 

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parts catalog picture for reference too.
image.jpg
 
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bolt got out, I move the ac line ever so slightly and the bolt came across the little bend in the line without interference. I don’t have clearance to bring it up the side of the engine, but currently thinking I’ll drain the PS fluid and remove the reservoir.
 
Here we go. Removing PS reservoir did the trick, those hoses are obnoxious to pull off.

Pulley or tensioner look like they need attention?
 

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