After working on my 96 disco for the better part of the last year I decided to drive it almost 2000 miles across the country to Yellowstone. Everything was great until yesterday after driving for a few hours back to camp we noticed the engine temperature was a little lower than normal (which I know is unrelated) but after getting out of the car I noticed a large amount of liquid on the ground. The next morning I found that it seemed like all at once after parking the power steering had dumped. After adding fluid we found that it all leaked out right underneath the pulley on the power steering pump.

There's a store in Jackson that may be able to get us a pump by tomorrow but the funny thing is that's the last day that the campground is open so we really need to move it my tomorrow morning. We thought about just driving it as is. But without any fluid I'm afraid the pump would be further destroyed and cause bigger problems. If we can find a shorter belt would it be possible to just bypass the pump?

 

The pump is already toast, drive it away from the campsite and then park it until you can get the replacement pump.

 

Thanks. That's probably what I'll do as it doesn't seem like I'll be able to route the belt any other way.

 

Looks like it might be theoretically possible to bypass the power steering pump by going between the crank and water pump. No idea if it would work practically. Photo attached of what I'm seeing. There is a shorter belt for early discoveries that did not have a/c. Part number ERR2678. Again zero clue how short it would need to be to still make good contact with the pulleys.

 

Thank you for the help! I think your right. I was able to fix it in the parking lot with a new pump Monday night. But I will measure it and put the length here in case someone else has this problem.

Also fyi don't break down in Yellowstone. There's a company in the park that has exclusive rights to towing. It's almost $200 an hour and you have to pay from the time they leave the shop until they get back. Apparently they don't work with AAA either. They quoted me nearly $800 just to tow to the entrance of the park.

 

Contact the AG of the state and file a complaint - contact the congress person state/federal that have that district and file a complaint

 

I agree! Makes me never want to go to Yellowstone again.

 

Yeah, it was a huge bummer. On the bright side most of the people I talked to were helpful in finding a spot to park it while waiting for parts.