I have a 98 lumina with a 3800 series II motor. the belt tensioner pulley bearing seems to have burned out and the pulley cocked to the side away from the motor causing the belt to slide toward the motor and cut through the power steering reservoir. so the power steering pump works except that it won't hold fluid.

it seems very difficult getting the pump out. tried breaking loose the nut to the metal hose going into the pump but the wrong nut broke loose. and the upper nut the nipple goes into is behind the pulley.

can anyone give me a road map to getting this solved? is it possible to replace the reservoir alone with out pulling out the pump? i know it has 2 clips holding it on from the diagram i've seen. but i don't know if it can be done.

anyone with experience with the power steering pump in this car with this engine, etc, that can offer me some tips..i would be very appreciative.

thanks a lot.

so i couldn't get the pressure hose off without taking the pulley off. and the tool to take that on and off in the vehicle costs about $110 for both. so we pulled the 2 bolts out so we could move the pump around..that gave us access to the spring clips on top and bottom. they were a pain to get off but finally managed to get them off. now the reservoir is out. we have to get another reservoir and see how easy it will be to get those clips back on.

Thanks for sharing the operation. Sorry I couldn't offer any help. Just saw the post....but I don't remember ever swapping a reservoir on one of these...let us know how it turns out.

That's pretty wild that the belt sawed through the reservoir...never saw that particular problem before. Always something new with cars.

I remember a couple of Toyota 22R motors in the shop....timing chains had been fluttering for so long allowing the chain to chew on the engine casting...finally cuts into a cooling passage and gets water in the oil...game over...

hey, thanks for replying. well, we never checked to see if a pulley puller would fit without first taking it out of the car. but, they do have adjustable pullers at the auto parts stores for $30 that would have worked if they fit. its up along the metal part of the wheel well. so i have my doubts. ok, so, we ended up just trying to patch it with jb weld. and we got the clips back on ok. had to use a screw on hose clamp because i couldn't slide the spring one back in place. we made sure we got a metal tensioner pulley instead of the plastic one that comes stock. it had melted around the bearing. its all back and everything seems so good so far.