well im not sure if this is typical for a tib but ive replaced the ps pump, alt, and water pump so far and checked all the belts and double checked tightness.
well when im driving, usualy when its cold, my belt sqeaks and ps starts to fail. however it doesnt happen all the time. any suggestions.

 

It may be the power steering tensioner.

 

on mine is part of the pump, and is tight everytime i check it.

 

If your belt is squeaking it means its slipping. Go to buy some "belt dressing". Its in a spray can and is designed to stop squeaking.

 

iv tried that with 2 dif belts even but no sucsess it hasnt done it since sunday so i may leave it alone but still wandering about the real prblem so more ideahs welcome

 

Try tightening the alternator belt. Sounds dumb but I think it will fix it.

Also, in the future, please try to be more descriptive in the title. Power Steering Problems would have been better. Just because a lot of people will skip over threads that are like that.

 

how is your power steering fluid?

 

i have checked fluid and alt belt. i even replaced alt. i believe water pump, alt, and ps operate off of 2 belts. so there is an alt, wp, and crank belt and then a wp and ps belt. if correct, all but the crank pully has been changed and checked on this system?

 

How tight did you make the PS belt?

I use a pry bar (sounds really ghetto, but it works, lol) and put it between the head and the back of the pump itself after I loosen the top adjuster bolt and bottom securing bolt on the pump. Then I pry the pump up about 1/8-1/4" to tighten the belt even further. I have had it that tight for years now with no pump issues so it is worth a try.

Also, you could try a higher quality PS belt. Go to napa and take the stock belt with you, get their highest quality belt, it will have almost a cloth feel on the inside.

Don't even think of replacing the crank pulley, lol. That will do nothing for you. Make sure the water pump drive belt is properly tightened by using the altenator like eric said. (comes from the crank pulley, around the alternator pulley, and then around the water pump pulley (which drives your power steering belt with the doubled up pulley) and back to the crank pulley). When you push on the long section of that belt, it should deflect no more than 1/4".

 

A squeeking belt means the belt is slipping. If the belt is slipping, it's not turning the pully as fast as it should. If it's not turning the pully, then the device connected to the pully isn't doing it's job.

Belt slipping can be caused by worn, improperly tensioned, or oil/buildup on the belt and pully, or binding of a mechanical item. When you replace belts they expand durring the first 300 or so miles. It's a good idea to retension them after a bit.

Also, check your muffler belts. They cause problems all the time and people come to the site asking about them.