Hello everyone. My PS pump went out on my '66 Cutlass. I could not loosen the nut that holds the pulley on as it just spins away even with a 1" wrench on the pulley. I had to remove the whole bracket to get the pump out of the car and on my workbench. Tried using an impact when I had it on the workbench but still the same result. Other than breaking out my bandsaw which is my next step is there some way to prevent the shaft from spinning so I can separate the pulley from the pump?


Thank you.

 

Bolt the pump back on the engine, reinstall and tension the belt. NOW try to loosen the nut.

 

Are you saying that the shaft and pulley are spinning together when you try to loosen the nut, or is the shaft spinning in the pulley?

 

The pulley has a key, though that goofy washer says that the pump has been apart before.

 

Yes, the woodruff key was the source of the problem. I was able to get the pulley off by basically putting the the pump in a head lock and muscling it at an angle against the work bench with one hand and using an electric impact on the nut with the other. Upon inspection I could see the woodruff looked as if it got sheared. $15 at Advance Auto for the keys and a quart of ATF and she's all back together now minus the goofy nut. After bleeding the air out the front wheels move with ease again.

 

The pulley was moving independantly of the shaft because of a sheared woodruff key. That's what made it a b!t#h to get the nut off. Holding the pulley with a 1" wrench on the flat part did nothing.

 

That's what I thought you were saying in your first post. Good job fixing the problem. However, that is a pretty unusual failure.

 

Definitely a new one on me

 

Ripping donuts with the wheel against the stop and the pedal on the floor will do that.

That was a once year job at the shop around the first real snow of the year.Sometimes the belt would jump off, sometimes the shaft would shear right off the pump. Usually it was a kid driving dad's truck in an empty lot.....