Alignment of Power Steering Pulley and Crankshaft

[BarryD]

I noticed that my power steering pulley had a small amount of wobble in it and took it to my mechanic to fix. He and I are both confused, so I thought I'd ask the forum.

My car is a 1967 250-SL, chassis 4542. The car was fitted for A/C when it was new. When the mechanic removed the original pulley, he noticed that the shaft was tapered and not straight. Apparently, my car is a newer model that would have had a straight shaft. He also noticed a crude shim between the pulley and the power steering pump. When he installed the new pulley (omitting the shim), he found that the crankshaft pulley and power steering pulley were out of alignment by 1/4 to 1/8 inch. At that point he assumed the crankshaft had the wrong pulley. He bought a new one, but it looks just like the one that is on the car now.

At this point he would like to remove the crankshaft pulley to se if it has some sort of a shim or whether it is actually different from the one he ordered.

His understanding is that the pulley position for the newer and older pumps is exactly the same; so he's sure the alignment of the pump pulley is correct.

Could the power steering pump bracket be incorrect?

Any help would be appreciated.

Thanks much, Barry

[ja17]

The later PS assemblies used the tapered shaft and pulleys. Early versions were straight. The brackets for the two versions were the same as far as position. There must be some other variable in your set up.

[chumps]

About a year ago I noticed that my power steering pulley was wobbling. I found that someone had put a tapered pulley on a straight shaft. When I replaced the tapered pulley with a straight pulley it took care of the problem.

[BarryD]

I first posted this over a year ago. I drove the car a bit over 1000 miles before hearing the noise from the front of the engine... It turns out that the power steering pump pulley and its nut were loose and wobbling. When I tightened the nut, the pulley would bind against the adjuster bolt head that is located between the pulley and the pump. Then the pump wouldn't turn.  It appears that my power steering pump has a straight shaft, but the pulley has a small amount of taper. Can someone tell me if the tapered shaft has a slight taper or is the taper clearly evident?