Loss of power steering when passing or high rpms.. Solution..

[Todd Z]

Seeing a couple of posts down reminded me of something....



I cant find the posts about people (and myself) loosing power steering at higher rpms, or when passing... Sometimes the steering would simply LOCK UP !!!!! That is scary when passing.....



I noticed that the belt tensioner has indicators on it as to the belt tension. When you rev the engine the tensioner tightens up to take up the slack, But it goes past the indicators that are stamped in it, thus loosing strength and allowing the belt to slip !!!!!!



I was going to make a separate idler that held the belt tighter to the P/S pulley, but I simply found a inch smaller belt worked MINT !!!...



The only problem Is I threw out my old belts when I installed my UDP, so I don't know what the exact size was...



I remember people asking about this a while ago.. And forgot to post my solution .. Sorry!!

If any one experiences this and can get a smaller belt on there, can you post the belt size..

Thanks

Todd Z

 

[Dre L]

I never had this problem, but I had put on the goodyear gatorback belt for the 4.0 from autozone, and a new tensioner and pulley, and I remember that it was tight, much tighter than the motorcraft or gates I had done, there was all of about 1/2" of space to bring the belt over the tensioner. I remember it well thinking the belt may have been too small, since the gates belt I put on less than 6 months back was noticeably larger than the new gatorback.

 

[Kevin Palmer]

It is common on our Tracs. I believe the technical term is "Belt Looping".



I went with a 3/4 shorter belt on my Trac and never had the problem again due to the increase tension on the tensioner..

 

[Chet 02]

I haven't experienced a problem like this, but should replacing the belt be kinda like preventative maintenance? Should I consider changing it now? Is this a problem with just certain years or is it more common than that? Maybe add it to the list.....shocks, sway bar, Xcal,......



Chet

 

[Dre L]

The belt is part of your PM, at 60K I think. I'm paranoid and won't go more than 2 years on a belt, frequently checking it for wear, and keeping a spare ready to go.

 

[Todd Z]

Chet, But in this case your not just replacing the belt, your going with a smaller one to keep the tension so you don't have slippage....

Todd Z

 

[Chet 02]

Right, I understand Todd...thanx. I think I will go ahead and look into replacing with a smaller one. It doesn't sound like a situation I want to run into. I drive alot of curvy, mountain roads here and do have a tendency to pass slower cars on them. I sure wouldn't want to suddenly lose any steering ability. Thanks for the input...just another great reason for MYST....



Chet