2000 Safari van loss of power assist for brakes and steering

Just after launching my boat and backing the trailer into a space, the power assist on my steering and brakes suddenly went away Man, is it hard to steer and brake without the assist!!! No idiot lights came on. I had a friend tow the boat home later that weekend and muscled the safari home. I drove the safari a couple times on the weekend and noticed that the voltage meter was slowly dropping.

On Monday I tried to drive to the dealer but the battery completely died on the way. The voltage gauge went into the red and the battery light came on, then speedometer and gas gauge shut off and the engine died

I recharged the battery from another car and was able to drive to the dealer. Before doing so and while the engine was running, I touched the alternator pulley with a stick and it was turning with the belt. I won't hear from the dealer for a day or two since I didn't have an appointment.

  1. Did the hydraulic pump fail?
  2. Did the alternator fail? (could the alternator failure kill the power assist?)
  3. Something else??? wadaya thing?

I'd like to hear what you all think it might be.

Thanks, Mitch

Reply to
dreamalive
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It's been really common on GM Power steering pumps over the last few years for the pump shaft to just snap. It breaks internally, so you see that pump pulley turning, but nothing is happening inside the ps pump. If you remove the serp belt, you can grab the ps pump pulley and pull it and the shaft right out of the pump.

Which is why you lose both brakes and steering as you have hydraulically assisted brakes (hydroboost)

Ian

Reply to
shiden_kai

Sounds like your belt has broken. s

Reply to
sdlomi2

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