I gave a 1996 SE to my in-laws. Got a call today from my brother in-law stating that the power steering pump came completely loose and is hanging from the hoses. Happened while Nana & Grampa were out shopping for appliances for their new assisted living center apartment. Happened in the Appliance store parking lot. It threw the belt off. He found one bolt and it looks like it sheared off.. I'm trying to help from 150 miles away. It seems like there are a least 2 bolts that should hold the pump on. I called a dealer and they told me that the pump bolts are 8mm 1.25 thread 75mm long and a 33.2 threaded. I assume that that means the threaded portion of the bolt is 33.32 mm and the rest is un- threaded portion of the bolt that slips through the pump. The 2nd bolt must have vibrated loose or sheared earlier? He really couldn't get in a position to see anything on the side of the engine.

I'm not sure which bolt is sheared or if there is any problem with the PS pump (tied-up) I know that the bolts were removed and replaced when a water pump was replaced over a year ago. Maybe they were not properly torqued? Is lock-tite required on the PS bolts? ? My brother-in -law tells me that the sheared bolt he found has about an inch of threads left on it so I am assuming that a 1/2 in. (approx) is still in the block...
He also said that the head of the bolt wasn't beat up...(so it didn't sound like it had backed up into the PS pulley?) Anybody have any experiences like this I am hoping the stub can be extracted without have to pull the engine. He'* having it towed to a shop to be looked at in the morning.

I drove the car 3 weeks ago and didn't notice any problems with the the steering or any unusual noises. I suppose the pump could have been held in place by one bolt for awhile? and would appear to be functioning normally?

Any thoughts welcome

Spit

Problem resolved Local shop repaired for $75. Had to remove one broken bolt. Other bolt apparently had vibrated loose and the remaining bolt was subjected to excess stress causing it to break. Mechanic said he had seen it before. Water pump was replaced a year ago..PS pump has to be moved to do it...must not have gotten torqued down properly. Live & learn.

Spit

It'* happened once before. You can do it yourself with a screw extractor and right-angle drill, but it'* a pita.

If it happened to me, I'd just remove the accessory bracket and do it out of the car.