This just happened. Oh boy.....
Thread Starter
Heel & Toe
Joined: Sep 2020
Posts: 22
Likes: 2
From: Salado TX
This just happened. Oh boy.....
Hi all, I’ve got a strange one here. Took the 93 out. Hadn’t been driven in a few weeks. Running, driving good all of a sudden my power steering doesn’t work. Turned it around, drove it 10 miles back home. Popped the hood and no belts are turning. Motor runs fine, didn’t get hot, battery light came on also. How is it possible for motor to run, and no belts/pulley turning? Thanks
Drifting
Joined: Apr 2020
Posts: 1,925
Likes: 610
From: Orange, CA
It's a '93 base, which is an LT-1. Feel inside the center of the crank pulley. Can you feel a hex bolt head in there?
If I had to throw a guess out there, I'd guess you lost the crank hub bolt, and your crank hub assembly is now just sitting on the end of the crank. The crank is spinning in place, but the hub isn't moving anymore. If this happened, then it'd be pretty bad mojo.
If I had to throw a guess out there, I'd guess you lost the crank hub bolt, and your crank hub assembly is now just sitting on the end of the crank. The crank is spinning in place, but the hub isn't moving anymore. If this happened, then it'd be pretty bad mojo.
Melting Slicks
Joined: Mar 2002
Posts: 2,876
Likes: 764
From: Sligo PA
I had the same thing happen but it was on my LS6. I have F-body accessories on it. The power steering pulley on those are plastic. The center that presses onto the pump shaft is steel that is just glued into the outer plastic pulley. The glue let loose after showing off with some burnouts for my kid. Anyway the pulley never came off. But when the belt would turn it wouldn't turn the pump shaft. Took me a while to find it. I thought I had a bad pump at first.
Le Mans Master
Joined: Feb 2005
Posts: 6,479
Likes: 565
From: Clearwater Florida
..... As I recall , the LT1 crank hub is a press fit ... no keyway to drive the hub ... your hub may be spinning on the crank snout ... it didn't get hot because the water pump is gear driven by the engine ... no belt .....
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Instructor
Joined: Jul 2020
Posts: 227
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From: New Jersey
Hi all, I’ve got a strange one here. Took the 93 out. Hadn’t been driven in a few weeks. Running, driving good all of a sudden my power steering doesn’t work. Turned it around, drove it 10 miles back home. Popped the hood and no belts are turning. Motor runs fine, didn’t get hot, battery light came on also. How is it possible for motor to run, and no belts/pulley turning? Thanks
Melting Slicks
Joined: Mar 2002
Posts: 2,876
Likes: 764
From: Sligo PA
Hi all, I’ve got a strange one here. Took the 93 out. Hadn’t been driven in a few weeks. Running, driving good all of a sudden my power steering doesn’t work. Turned it around, drove it 10 miles back home. Popped the hood and no belts are turning. Motor runs fine, didn’t get hot, battery light came on also. How is it possible for motor to run, and no belts/pulley turning? Thanks
Racer
Joined: Jul 2012
Posts: 383
Likes: 86
From: Northeast Ohio
If nothing is turning, my first recommendation is to check the tensioner. Tensioners are probably $50 or less...might as well get a new belt too. I daily drove an LT1 for over 200K miles, never had a crank pulley issue...that would be the next thing to check...and check every other accessory pulley.
While a leaking water pump, or going through a deep puddle, can cause power steering issues...these are usually intermittent issues and the other accessories will still be turning.
While a leaking water pump, or going through a deep puddle, can cause power steering issues...these are usually intermittent issues and the other accessories will still be turning.
Drifting
Joined: Apr 2020
Posts: 1,925
Likes: 610
From: Orange, CA
Drifting
Joined: Apr 2020
Posts: 1,925
Likes: 610
From: Orange, CA
See if you can get an endoscope to look at the crank snout's threads. If the bolt sheared inside you're also in a pickle. If the threads are toast and that's why the bolt flew out you're also in a pickle.
Best of luck, sir.
Le Mans Master
Joined: Aug 2015
Posts: 6,092
Likes: 1,972
From: St. Charles MO
You are in a big, big pickle. This means your crankshaft has been spinning wildly within the balancer hub. I've never seen that happen, but I can't help but think that that's been causing some "self-clearancing" if you know what I mean. If you're lucky, all it's been doing is destroying the balancer hub, and your crankshaft snout is fine. This is because it's not a big deal to go buy another hub and balancer. But if the crank snout has been clearancing itself inside the hub, you are looking at a very extensive and expensive rebuild.
See if you can get an endoscope to look at the crank snout's threads. If the bolt sheared inside you're also in a pickle. If the threads are toast and that's why the bolt flew out you're also in a pickle.
PS - And now I'm hungry for a pickle...
Last edited by MatthewMiller; Feb 22, 2021 at 10:14 PM.
