Help! Tensioner pulley blew up, power steering fluid everywhere

[BCanuck]

Got half way to work and I heard a weird noise and lost my power steering. Limped it to work and found the power steering fluid everywhere and tensioner pulley blew up into pieces.

Why did my power steering fluid go everywhere if my tensioner blew up?

Now stuck at work, nightmare begins lol

 

[BCanuck]

Im suprised no one chimed in?

So i got the idler pulley off. (It wasn't the tensioner after all). Had a new one ordred in for $31.75 cdn after taxes. Everything runs great again.

What threw me off was the fluid all over the engine bay from the power steering reservoir. Only conclusion i can come up with is, the pump was not cycling the fluid back through the lines due to the belts coming loose. So that cause the reservoir to over fill and spray out.

 

[adsm08]

PS fluid went everywhere because you kept driving. It happens on PS systems where the steering is cycled with the pump not running. For having driven with no belt it is perfectly normal.

 

[tomw]

What he saide ^^^.

When the steering is turned with the pump not running, fluid is forced in & out of the power steering box. The return is better than the 'supply', so the reservoir gets filled and finally over-filled.
Try letting the truck coast/creep down hill, engine off, and turn the steering while it is moving(easier than at rest) and you'll possibly find fluid being expelled for the above reason.
tom

 

[BCanuck]

Thanks for the reply's. That's what I was thinking and hoping you guys would say. That means my power steering pump is fine ?

 

[adsm08]

Thanks for the reply's. That's what I was thinking and hoping you guys would say. That means my power steering pump is fine ?

Should be. Top the system off, drive normally. Check it again in a few days, since you probably introduced some air via cavitation.