1989 240, power steering kaput

Heppened instantaneously and quietly yesterday between one corner and
the next; quick look under the hood shows plenty of fluid, but
belt/pulley isn't turning. Can the pump have frozen up while driving???

 

Did the clutch on your AC compressor sieze up or the belt fall off that? If
the belt on the PS pump is intact but not turning and the pully driving it
was turning you'd certainly know it by the screeching and smoke billowing.

 

billowing.

Yow! You're right, sort of; it is indeed the AC compressor pulley
that's stationary. The drive belt to it is cruising around just fine,
though, no squealing or smoke! What a pain. I religiously fire up the
AC once a week or so, even in the winter, just to prevent this sort of
nonsense.
Is it likely to be just the clutch, or does it need a new compressor?
(Yike yike yike)

 

It's the clutch, specifically the bearing under the clutch (normally part of
the clutch when it is replaced, but I had a Dodge with a NipponDenso
compressor where it was a separate part.) It can be replaced without opening
the system.

However... A/C compressors tend to last about as long as the clutch. When
the clutch broke on the compressor in our 85 765T, I searched high and low
and found a clutch for $150. That served us a year until the compressor
seized while turboing up a long hill. (The difference between a seized
bearing and a seized compressor is that the bearing is always seized, while
the compressor is visibly seized only when the clutch is activated.)

Mike

 

There is a belt from the crankshaft to the A/C compressor. Then there
is a belt from the compressor to the power steering pump. The crank
turns the compressor, the compressor turns the pump. Both belts have to
be there for the power steering to work.

--
Mike F.
Thornhill (near Toronto), Ont.

Replace tt with t (twice!) and remove parentheses to email me directly.
(But I check the newsgroup more often than this email address.)

 

Oh, of course! Since the PS pump is nonturning even when the AC is off,
it must be the clutch/pulley and not the AC compressor. I can feel my
wallet smiling already. Thanks.

 

If the belt isn't squeeling then the tensioner probably broke, the pully is
one piece so the only thing that would cause it to stop turning (I've had
this happen before) is if the AC system is discharged (so no oil) and the
clutch siezes causing the compressor to spin until it siezes and then you
get the squeeling until the belt comes off or breaks. In your case it sounds
like the solution will be much simpler.