Strange problem here.

I mounted up my new ac compressor yesterday, installed the drier and hoses then sealed the system. Right now, my PS pump is driven by a single vbelt at the rear groove coming directly off the crank. I was going to get the belt for the compressor that runs off the waterpump and front groove of the steering pulley then goes to the single groove on the compressor, but it appears the grooves do not line up. The compressor meets with the waterpump pulley but the power steering groove sits further back from both about 3/8" and looks like it might throw the belt as soon as the engine is started or revved.

Has anyone ever run into this problem before?

 

Post a pic of the PS pump where it attaches to the head, with the camera held in the general direction of the water outlet and pointing toward the wheel, showing as much detail as possible.

 

My apologies. I took a closer look and the steering pump pulley is aligned properly it is the compressor pulley that sticks out a bit further from everything else.

Every single piece of my A/C system is entirely new and the brackets were pulled from a junkyard car. However, 5 years ago when I bought my car with the stock bracket setup and stock compressor still attached to the motor I recall it having this problem.

I tried to angle the camera so the pullies most accurately represent what you are seeing when you look straight down at them. It's not off by much but basically the center of the groove on the compressor pulley is lined up with the outer edge of the the WP and PS pulley. Is this going to pose a problem with a tight belt? It looks as if it could stand a chance of jumping off the back of the compressor pulley.

 

More...

 

Annnnd more.

 

Can't see THE ONE piece of hardware that will tell the tale in any of those pics.

Take a pic of where the PS pump bolts to the head, from the center of the motor looking toward the wheel, showing the hardware that holds the pump bracket to the head.

 

Let me know if this is not what you are looking for.

Now it may also be worth noting that the steering pump pulley sits further back from the waterpump pulley very slightly. The compressor pulley sits forward from the waterpump pulley very slightly. It is the alginment of the steering pump pulley with the compressor pulley that has me concerned. They are too far off from each other for me to be comfortable with it.

If I could get away with driving just the compressor off the waterpump by itself I would but it doesn't look like the belt would clear the steering pulley that way. I am thinking the simplest solution here would be for the steering pump to come forward some?

 

OK, looks like that stud thing that's supposed to be between the PSP bracket and the AC bracket on the front of the head, is there. That's what we were looking for.

The rearmost belt should go over the crank and PSP, and also the WP if it has 3 large dia grooves (doesn't look like that one has that). The next one out should go over the crank, WP, PSP, and AC; some belt listings show a belt that's shorter, and doesn't go over the WP, but the longer one works better. The front crank one should go over the crank, WP, & alt; looks like that one is the flat kind rather than a V?. The AIR pump should have its own.

It looks to me like the AC is the thing that's out of place. Not only is it too far to the front, but also, it's not parallel to the others. Those big washer looking things on the rear of it, under the outboard-most adjustment bolt, don't look right. The compressor looks turned, with its shaft pointing from inward/front to outward/rear, as though the outboard side of it is too far forward.

 

I loosened the header bolt that secures the rear bracket and was able to shift the whole assembly back about an 8th inch.

I also laid a fat 4 foot section of string across the pullies to check belt angle. Everything looked acceptable except for the steering pump going up to the compressor. However, upon closer inspection I believe I may have found the problem or at least most of it.

Pay attention to the power steering pump in these photos and compare its angle relative to the swaybar.

 

The sway bar isn't straight, curves rearward in the center. Compare it to the core support.

Your best shot of the alignment looks to me like the 3rd one in the 1st group; shows the PSP and WP parallel and even, but the compressor too far forward and twisted. 2nd one in that group shows the same thing.

 

The pump is the one that looks off, if you look at it in person. I have a theory that makes sense, but am not able to test it until I get the new belt tomorrow.

When I put the belt on the power steering pulley, I tensioned it by grabbing the pulley and yanking the whole pump towards me while tightening the bolts. If it was crooked when the bolts were tightened, then that would make the side mounting point where it bolts to the exhaust bracket sit too far back and push the exhaust bracket in at the bottom when I later added it. This would also cause a see-saw effect since there is a third bracket coming off the head that supports the exhaust bracket in the middle while it is trying to pivot against the header bolt, causing it to sit out too far at the top and push the compressor forward. So now we have a combination of the steering pump sitting too far back and the compressor sitting too far forward.