60k miles, 2.5yrs, ACDelco power steering pump dead, why?

[83GMCK2500]

The steering components were all leaking and to save time my father had all new or reman components (pump & lines - new, box - reman) purchased through a dealer by his trusted mechanic of choice. 2.5 years later the truck is my daily driver (see signature). Two weeks ago my steering started to get stiff at low engine RPMs. Later that weekend it was full on armstrong-steering at idle, even with truck rolling it took both hands on the wheel to get the job done. Had all of the invoices from the work done, checked into a warranty, no dice, warranty = 12mo/12k miles.

Around here we don't throw very many things away that could be potentially useful, leaky power steering components included. I dug out the old pump, ordered up an ACDelco seal kit (hey, the ACD pump still didn't leak, it just quit doing it's job.), disassembled, cleaned, lubed, re-sealed the old pump and swapped them out. Yay! Steers with a finger again.

So, wth happened to the new one? Time to investigate. Drained, pulled reservoir, looked inside and nothing floating around. Flipped pump over and saw the magnet. WHOA!



That seems like an excessive amount of material. Held down the cover plate, slipped the ring out, pulled the cover, used a dead blow to tap the shaft/rotor/cam/end plate up enough to lift the end plate off. First glance, nothing out of place. Upon close inspection of the vanes...huh, I thought I just read in my reseal kit instructions that the vanes should have the rounded edges TOWARDS THE CAM RING. See #4...




Yeah, I read the right...So, was my pump assembled on a Monday (hangover) or Friday (case of f*ck-arounds) or by the apprentice? Either way Every one of the vanes is installed with square edge out. Check out the wear on the cam ring as well...



Now, if anyone has a tech manual or guide on these pumps and can verify that when brand new the square edges are out, I'd love to see the documentation.

[PGSigns]

Don't have a manual but I do have one on the bench for a reseal and it has the rounded edges out.
Jimmy

[83GMCK2500]

Originally Posted by PGSigns

Don't have a manual but I do have one on the bench for a reseal and it has the rounded edges out.
Jimmy

I forgot to mention, the one that I did reseal and put pack in had rounded edges out as well. I didn't take any pictures of it as there are a zillion how-to-reseal-a-pump threads. Also, on the one I resealed, the cam ring had a more polished inside surface and less...scratched.

[Tom]

This is why we don't buy rebuilt stuff. If you want rebuilt, do it yourself. Otherwise new only.

[83GMCK2500]

Originally Posted by Tom

This is why we don't buy rebuilt stuff. If you want rebuilt, do it yourself. Otherwise new only.

Agreed, that is why the pump WAS purchased new. A new box was not available, only reman.

[TBONE1964]

That would make me wonder how many others assembled in that same date range have the same issue. New or not, it still has to be assembled either by a person or a robotic machine. If it is a robotic machine it has to be loaded by a person. I can see if some one was not paying attention how easy it would be to install these vanes backwards.

In this day and age, the Monday morning/Frday afternoon excuse has spilled through out the whole week

Good diagnostic skills here
Tom

[Tx Firefighter]

I have a different thought on this.

Go with me here...

I'd wager that the vanes were originally rounded on both edges (inner and outer).

It only makes sense. Round both edges to ease assembly. There would be no right or wrong way to orient them if that were the case. Round them all and they could drop them in quickly upon assembly and not have to slow down to get them flipped properly.

Now, you say, Kevin, mine are all rounded on the inside but square cut on the outside.

Wear.

They were all rounded, but during the seventy zillion revolutions the pump made, the edges wore square. It's only natural, you rub a rounded edge long enough, you wear it down flat.

What concerns me about the pictures is that your vanes are not all sprung outward. It appears some of them are bound up compressed down into the slots rather than springing out fully and following the outer contour of the housing.

[TBONE1964]

Originally Posted by Tx Firefighter

I have a different thought on this.

Go with me here...

I'd wager that the vanes were originally rounded on both edges (inner and outer).

It only makes sense. Round both edges to ease assembly. There would be no right or wrong way to orient them if that were the case. Round them all and they could drop them in quickly upon assembly and not have to slow down to get them flipped properly.

Now, you say, Kevin, mine are all rounded on the inside but square cut on the outside.

Wear.

They were all rounded, but during the seventy zillion revolutions the pump made, the edges wore square. It's only natural, you rub a rounded edge long enough, you wear it down flat.

What concerns me about the pictures is that your vanes are not all sprung outward. It appears some of them are bound up compressed down into the slots rather than springing out fully and following the outer contour of the housing.

Kevin, I always like the way you think and look at things a little outside the box.

If I had the spare cash laying around, I would purchase a new pump and disassemble it just to see what the vanes look like new. Round on both sides? or one round and one square? Hmmm, very interesting.