Power sterring belt Holiday Rambler P-30

[Phillip T Rodden]

After or rather during my first outing in my " Back on the Road " Holiday Rambler 1987 I experienced loss of power sterring. My trip was short so it was just a pain in the a--.    I am not a mechanic but when I took the engine cover off I saw what I beleive to be the power sterring pump located at the top left of the front of the motor and there is no belt at all on the pulley .  Can I just look up the belt for a P-30 and order it ? Any advice would be very appreciated .  If I can repair it my self I need to. 

[david hagan]

dont know about that, but do know that if you take a piece of string and carefully route it like the belt would run in the pulley grooves, pulling it snugly and then cutting it when it completes the circle will get you within an inch of the actual belt. seldom do the parts house jockeys give me the correct belt first time anymore. :(

[david hagan]

or your could go to graingers.com an look up their add a link belt. you can get them in different widths so they should fit most applications(long as it requires a v belt). they come in 80 inch lengths so one should be enough for most uses. they are much more durable than a regular v belt and a godsend if you have a difficult or complicated routing. they are not cheap but are well worth the cost and should be in every toolbox.

[Ed&Robin]

if you have a chevy 454 you can start  at  autozones website and put in p30 that will bring up a belt close if not the belt, that has been a great source for us on the road ,another ref is a chevy truck k3500 in your year range.

[Rich Thomas]

Philip a word of caution if you use a string to measure your belt length check the amount of adjustment you have on the pump pulley. loosen the power steering pump adjustment bolt and position it so you will have adjustment either way. A string will give you a ballpark figure but it measures from the very bottom of the belt groove and a V-Belt does not travel in the bottom of the groove so a tight string will cause you to have a short belt. I don't want to discourage you from using the string method It does work just be prepared for it.  good luck

[Phillip T Rodden]

Thanks guys. It's a Chevy 454. I will use the string to measure and look it up . 

[Jim Stoltz]

You should be able to get the right belt at your local auto parts store. I'm surprised you didn't lose your brakes as well - I would have thought that's a Hydroboost setup. 

[Ralph Javins]

Good morning, Phillip; 

There may be more than one V-belt on the power steering pump.  There is the one coming from the fan pulley to drive the power steering pump, the Gates 7812, and there may be a second one going to the air pump, which is either a Gates 7450 or a Gates 7460. 

If the problem is the belt going to the air pump, you have some time available to get the V-belt needed to put that one back into operation.  

Enjoy, and Happy Holidays; 

Ralph 

Latte Land, Washington 

[Phillip T Rodden]

Is the best way to change these belts from underneath ? I can't get up to the front of the engine with the engine cover off. 

[Russell E Johnson]

I do not know about HRs, but on my Southwind all the belts have to be changed from underneath, there is no other way to get to them. It took a mechanic shop 8 1/2 hours to change the serpentine belt on our 454, of course they did include waiting for the new belt to come from 50 miles away. Just glad they found one and we did not have to sit the weekend waiting for one to be ordered in.

[Phillip T Rodden]

Well I will slide under there and have a look. I see if I can do it . I'm not a mechanic But I saw one once. 

[Phillip T Rodden]

That didn't take long. I can't fit under the front of the MH . Even without a creeper. OK . Off to the local Mechanic. Thanks for all your help gentlemen. 

[Ralph Javins]

Good morning, Phillip; 

I was able to change the belts on the front of the Chevy 454 in the Winnebago Elandan with just taking off the "dog house" or engine cover inside the motor home between the two front seats.  Yes, it did take some time to do it, and that included rotating the large fan inside the fan shroud behind the radiator to work each belt over the fan blades to take off the old ones and get the new ones on.  Then working from the last one closest to the front of the engine, I put each of them on and tightened the adjustment for each one as I went forward.  The serpentine belt for the crankshaft pulley, the water pump, the alternator, and I think the right side air pump, was the last belt to go back on.  

When you have the spare belts in hand, it does not take too long to do it.  And now I do have the spare belts in hand in the back under the right side bunk.  There are some other spare parts in there also.  I know how long you can wait to get something that has a fairly well known failure rate.  It is more convenient to have the tools and the spare parts at hand to get your own vehicle back on the road.  Helps also with a lot of other motor homes that are similarly equipped.  With what I found necessary to get the rear suspension system improved to where it would carry the weight of the water, gasoline, food, and the other things I wanted to put into the Elandan, I can handle the slight additional weight of the spare parts very well now.  I just had to weigh all the wheels individually on the Elandan to adjust the tire pressures and the air bag pressures to keep the ride height of the suspension system and the rolling radius of the tires all to where they should be.  The tire  makers weight versus inflation pressure was my main guide in determining what tire pressures I should run.  And those pressures were a lot more than what Winnebago called for in their "comfortable riding" specifications. 

Enjoy,

Ralph 

Latte Land, Washington