Monkey Lad Saga Continues..

[MWoodland at Dentsply.com]

Hey gang.
 I posted a few weeks ago about the oil leak related to the timing belt
change.. turned out to be an oil pump bolt not tightened. Not just
unsealed.. not even tight. Got that sorted out, and started to commute 100
miles a day.
Within a month, the hydraulic pump starts to leak, and when the temp
dropped to 8 degrees F, it started to pump it out wholesale.
At least I had already converted to the Mobil mineral oil, and wasn't
puking Pentosin.
I got the rebuild kit (Thanks  Rod), and pulled the old pump, only to find
that the front seal was destroyed.. the lower half of the seal lip was
missing, and the bushings were wiped out.. way too much play in the shaft.
I had a spare pump, which received the rebuild kit and is now working (more
or less) fine, but got to wondering about the failure mode.
Came up with "overtightened belt", and checked the Alternator and A/C
belts, as all of the belts were changed at the same time.
Both were seriously overtightened (less than 1/4" deflection after wearing
in for 2 months), and I backed them off.

The Moral is to double check for  correct deflection if you ever sub the
work out.. It can get ugly, and expensive quickly.
 I had used this place for years, and had always  received good results,
but they had picked up a new guy..

Now for the pump question: The new /rebuilt pump is working (mostly) fine,
but the power assist feels slightly non-linear, slightly overboosting as
the turn radius decreases. Half way into a cloverleaf entrance, I've got to
slightly back off the steering input.  Pretty disconcerting. Feels to be
equal on either side.
I checked the fluid from the wiped pump, and didn't see any noticable
contaminants (poured some out on white paper, and it was clear).
Does this sound like a known failure mode, like contaminants in the rack?
Were there different pumps with different boost characteristics/pressures?

Thanks in advance for your input,
Mark Woodland
Max, '87 5KTQ 280K+ (Odometer was "suddenly dead" on receipt from same
timing belt, aux belt change by same monkeylad....)

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