Power Steering Pump - DIY

I was having some terrible noise coming from my power steering and thanks to Dave96dcm and others for helping me confirm that it was the pump.

The Stealership wanted $900 I believe to replace this new (might have been more now that I think about it.) And someone here (thanks) pointed me to a parts yard in Providence RI that had used and rebuilt parts. I got what looked like a really nice used pump for $75.

In addition to the pump, 1 quart of transmission fluid is needed to complete this DIY.

First get some help:







Then take a look at the top:






Step1 - remove all the fluid you can from resevoir:

Jack up Car, I like to use this for a jack point. Then I put a jack stand under the side where the outside jack point is - and lower the car onto the jackstand:






Remove the splash guard from under the front. You will need a Phillips screw-driver. Just turn these 180 degrees the screws don’t come out, just turn them to unlock.






Remove the cap off the front of the belt tensioner and I used an Allen wrench and breaker bar at the top of the car - from the top push to right to loosen belt...reach down and pull it off pulleys.

Remove the 2 hoses going to the power steering pump, one of these required an open-end wrench larger than I had >16mm (17mm?):






Remove the power steering pulley, 3x 13mm small bolts. This is part of my Turner Motorsports underdrive pulleys so I was very careful not to damage it. Was a real problem for me because I couldn't figure out how to do this without the pulley turning...so I locked a vice grip on it...not want I would have preferred to do:






I also noticed that a duct that vents air to the alternator had been worn / damaged by the belt at some point:






The Bentley Service Manual said to remove the sway bar, so I did - but in hindsight I don't know that is nessasary. Take out the 3 bolts on Power Steering Pump to remove it.

Put the pulley back on, sway bar, belt (oh yea, before you take the belt off write on it with Chalk noting which direction is goes so that you can replace it the same way...I'm sure many people take advantage at this point to just replace it with a new one.)

Put the splash guard and everything else back together and lower the car.

I added about 1 QT of transmission fluid to the reservoir while the car was running...turn the wheel back and forth and add a bit more till it's at the 'full line'.

AND OMG it sounds so awesome now! Purs like a kitten now!


I hope this helps anyone else that needs to do it and has yet to tackle it. On a scale of 1 to 10 (10 being the most difficult DIY) I would give this about a 3.5 -didn't require a lot of crazy tools and would take someone about 1-2 hrs. total.

Tim

Great job on the write up!

Thanks Hamann, I wanted to also add...

These are the 3 bolts you have to remove on the Power Steering Pump:

btw, out of curiosity, what pressure PS is that pump. Does it say on the sticker ? Mine (later type LUK LF-20) was 110.

Wow!!! Your going to make my PSP change easy. Where can i get a pump for a 328ci at a good price??

Originally Posted by TX_Bullet

Wow!!! Your going to make my PSP change easy. Where can i get a pump for a 328ci at a good price??

There are many online resources: realoem.com, bavauto.com and more.

I would suggest what someone pointed me to, look for a local auto parts yard, if you want something cheap. But expect to pay $100-$300 for a used/rebuilt one. Have to look locally for Houston.

Good luck!

Originally Posted by tony325ci_51

btw, out of curiosity, what pressure PS is that pump. Does it say on the sticker ? Mine (later type LUK LF-20) was 110.

There was a label on the pump but I didn't really look at it too closely as the one I got came from a 1999, 328i, manual, Sedan. And I visually inspected it to make sure it was the same as my pump. Good question though...

Originally Posted by Chronic2112

There was a label on the pump but I didn't really look at it too closely as the one I got came from a 1999, 328i, manual, Sedan. And I visually inspected it to make sure it was the same as my pump. Good question though...

Yeah, I was thinking there's this story that at some time BMW made a mod that "lightened" the steering, then because drivers complained of having less "feel" they made it slightly heavier again. I'm guessing at some point between your year and mine they introduced a higher pressure pump (120 - 130 PS ?), then went down to 110PS again. But I'm just guessing ? That's why I thought it would be interesting to know.

Originally Posted by tony325ci_51

Yeah, I was thinking there's this story that at some time BMW made a mod that "lightened" the steering, then because drivers complained of having less "feel" they made it slightly heavier again. I'm guessing at some point between your year and mine they introduced a higher pressure pump (120 - 130 PS ?), then went down to 110PS again. But I'm just guessing ? That's why I thought it would be interesting to know.

That, and consider I use underdrive pulleys that turn slower at the same RPM as the OEM pulleys...so my PS Pump is probably operating at a slightly lower pressure.

Very niceeeeee.....good DIY...and nice pics...

also if i might add...in order to get the bolts out of the power steering pulley without out using a vice grip and possibly damaging the pulley...you have to loosen the bolts before you remove the belt

Originally Posted by Custom3

Very niceeeeee.....good DIY...and nice pics...

also if i might add...in order to get the bolts out of the power steering pulley without out using a vice grip and possibly damaging the pulley...you have to loosen the bolts before you remove the belt

I knew there was a solution...I will do that next time.

Question: what size allen wrench was required to move the tensioner pulley before I do mine this weekend at the power steering pump i got says LUK-120

Originally Posted by Custom3

Very niceeeeee.....good DIY...and nice pics...

also if i might add...in order to get the bolts out of the power steering pulley without out using a vice grip and possibly damaging the pulley...you have to loosen the bolts before you remove the belt

Beat me to it! I was going to give the same advice. Nice writeup, so how much PS fluid leaks out when you remove the hoses? Is a catchpan necessary? That was the only other thing that was missing in the writeup.

Originally Posted by TX_Bullet

Question: what size allen wrench was required to move the tensioner pulley before I do mine this weekend at the power steering pump i got says LUK-120

I seem to remember it's a Torx bit, not allen. Sorry can't remember exact size.

Originally Posted by Lemonsqr

how much PS fluid leaks out when you remove the hoses? Is a catchpan necessary?

Clamp the hose to minimise fluid loss before removing it, then unscrew and remove lower threaded union (17mm I think), have tray in place to catch fluid that will drop. Top up (or replace) fluid with Dexron 3 ATF.

Read my posts and the linked threads thoroughly to give you more info. Note the pics in this thread DIY are of the earlier LUK LF-30, not a LUK LF-20.

http://forum.e46fanatics.com/showpos...47&postcount=7

http://forum.e46fanatics.com/showpos...6&postcount=15

http://forum.e46fanatics.com/showthread.php?t=578176

Wow great DIY Guide! Thank you so much. Will change mine this week. About the belt, is that belt called power steering belt? Also, do I need to remove the sway bar?

I take exception to your first picture caption.
Cheap Labor!!?? I Hardly think so.

Just so you don't use that moniker too loosely, the latest estimate was something like $250,000 to take that junior assistant from eating/pooping/vomiting machine, thru cute, then thru dangerous teenage thug, to somewhat socialized semi-independent member of society.
Not cheap.
But admittedly, there are some fringe benefits.
Good luck.
Nice DIY, thanks, where is one on just changing PS fluid?

Originally Posted by magnuzza

Wow great DIY Guide! Thank you so much. Will change mine this week. About the belt, is that belt called power steering belt? Also, do I need to remove the sway bar?

Sometimes it's called the 'main engine drive belt' in the service manual. it is the one on the right side as you look down into the engine bay from above.

The service manual said to remove the driver side of the sway bar...I did this without doing this.


And on the 'Cheap Labor' reply...you are correct!

Just for informatoin: I just changed out my power steering pump, and did *not* have to take out the fan shroud and fan in order to get the pump out from the bottom. There was plenty of room for me to get it around the swaybar. I would suggest that people doing this DIY would loosen the bolts on the pulley before loosening the belt, *AND* loosen the high pressure fitting. When it's bolted to the car it makes it alot easier.

And lastly, once you loosen up the clamp holding on the big low pressure hose, get the hose off of the pump before you take the pump off. Mine was a little stuck on and was a pain in the ass with the pump just dangling by the hose. (Things were slippery with power steering fluid and grease.) Let me know if you have any questions!

-Daemonix