Day 264 September 24 , 2002

Unable to find a used power steering pump anywhere near here, I bought a new one at the local auto parts store. This presents a problem as new pumps don't come with the pulley and the pulleys are pressed on at the factory. I was concerned that I wouldn't be able to remove the old pulley and would then be stranded up on the hill due to the fact that there is only one drive belt on Mr. Plow and it turns everything. With no power steering pump pulley, I would not be able to drive the truck at all because the water pump wouldn't be turning. I removed the old pump and carefully used my 8" 2 jaw puller to remove the pulley. Or attempt to remove it. It didn't budge, although it did bend slightly. I repositioned the puller and heated the pulley arbor bright red. Nothing. Nothing good anyway. It did bend some more.

At this point I realized I would need to replace the pulley, but as it isn't something that dealers stock I still needed to get it off to get to the dealer to order one and pick it up. So I tried various things using all of my years experience without much luck. Finally the pulley was seriously damaged and now I just wanted to get it off because I wasn't about to let some pulley win this battle. Finally, with some persuasion (sledge hammer) I got it off. It isn't usable, but I wasn't surprised and I did feel better. Will somebody call GM and ask why the pulley needs to be pressed on with one million tons of force? By the way, Nissan uses a brilliant method of attaching the pulley to their pumps. It's called a "nut". Works every time. Alas, I called the GM ("God Motors" my friend Kurt called them) dealer and ordered one. I guess I'll take a cab to get it on Thursday.

10 hours, clear around 72.