I have a 1997 SL1 I just bought 2 weeks ago and the previous owner said he thought the power steering pump was starting to fail due to a rattle from that area. Thought nothing of until yesterday when the pump fell off! I took it to a local garage to investigate thinking a bold broke, but seems the actual bracket broke off the engine! The bolts must have been loose and the stress prob broke the bracket, I wish now I had investigated it further after I bought the car! Could have prevented this maybe....Its in a tight area where I don't think a welder will be able to repair the bracket, which would mean removing the engine for access, a big exp job! Anyone have any ideas? I would be willing to bypass the power steering altogether with a shorter belt, anyone ever try this or have a belt brand/numberwe could try? Is this a common issue? Seems like a bad piece of engineering. Why not bolt the bracket directly into the block? Then the bolt would break rather than the block itself under stress...txPeterEdited by: sw2cam

 

Seem I Miss-spoke, its the alt bracket that broke, thats how much I know about the engine! So I can't bypass that! Will have to be repaired for sure....
Edited by: sw2cam

 

You're going to need a new block. Or find someone that really, really good at welding aluminum.