1998 F150 4.2L
69K Miles

It shouldn't move back and forth should it? (with the belt off it moves very easy front to back...)
might be what my squealing/chirping is from?
that would mean the shaft is moving back and forth also i believe?

pump replacement the only fix?

 

nobody?
someone has had to have replaced power steering pump before.
whats involved? what do i need? should i wear pants?

 

I just did this job on my 98 4.2 last Wednesday night. The Haynes manual tells you to remove all kinds of stuff that really isn't necessary. Maybe it was written for the bigger motors. Just take off the serpentine belt and the air cleaner housing (unhook the electrical connector so you can lift it out of the truck completely). Move the clamp for the reservoir hose and pull off the rubber hose (power steering fluid will leak out, so have a pan below to catch it). Four bolts hold the pump to the motor. Two are easy to get from the top, the other two from underneath. There is a high-pressure fitting on the bottom that has to be unscrewed. Mine had been put on by Hercules, but I eventually got it off (you need an 18 mm line or open end wrench). The big problem was the pulley. The Haynes manual tells you to use a puller to take the pulley off the old pump. I don't know exactly what puller they meant, but I can tell you that a three-jaw puller is NOT the right answer. Save yourself the aggravation and just buy a new pulley when you buy the new pump (it's only about $15). The only other trick was installing the new pulley on the new pump. The instructions said to use the "installation tool" (a bolt, washer and nut) to install the pulley. No other information. I eventually discovered that I could use two nuts on the bolt to adjust the distance between the bolt end and a washer. Screwing the bolt into the threaded pump shaft pushed the new pulley on, although I had to re-adjust my jam nuts as the pulley went further on. I used anti-seize on the pump mounting bolts since there were going into aluminum, but that was just a precaution in case I ever have to take it off again.

 

Hey jds2
good info there, i just got around to doing it and it wasn't that bad.

i used a crows foot to get to the pressure fitting and it worked well.
also bought a tool set that autozone sells that is made for removing/replacing the pulley and it did they job much better than a 3 jaw puller would have. was like $14. the installer is basicly a bolt/washer/nut setup like you used but the puller is a nice little setup that made it easy

Also the bleeding of the power steering system wasn't as bad as the book made it sound.

AND IT DOESN'T LEAK! Woooo Hoooo
(in the past any ford that had had power steering work done seemed to leak)

 

Cool - glad to be of help. I just picked up my latest project, an 85 T-top Camaro, so I've now got another vehicle to learn! Always stuff to fix and improve.

Actually, I forgot about the bleeding part. I didn't have to do any. Just fired up the motor and turned the wheel a couple of times and that was it.