Dear Metallo,

Hope you're well and that the Holidays have been enjoyable. To test a crank pulley, it is better to drive the car. The pulley's sections may require the energy applied by acceleration, before they'll move relative to each other.

The power steering bracket is - if I recall correctly - made of aluminum. It can wear, if a bolt works loose, and is not promptly re-snugged. If the bracket wiggles - ever so slightly - relative to the engine block, the bracket's hole will deform. This makes it next-to-impossible to align the pump.

The power steering pump pulley is pressed onto the pump's shaft, so I think it cannot be removed and replaced, while the pump is affixed to its bracket.

I've never had to remove a power steering pump. I've changed the drive belt many times. That can be done from above. I'm pretty sure that removing the pump requires working from below.

Before removing the power steering pump: (a) try to tighten the power steering pump's mounting bolts and (b) use a straight edge to see if the pulley's face is exactly parallel with the crank pulley's face. If the power steering pump pulley's face is parallel with the front of the engine block, then there's no reason to suspect the power steering pulley.

Cheap-and-effective insulation - when one has to lay on a cold surface - are several sheets of corrugated cardboard, one atop the other. I've given up using creepers: they tend to shift, making it hard to exert leverage.

Hope this helps.

All the Best for 2021!

Yours faithfully,

Spook