155000 miles almost exclusively highway. Well maintained and drives like new (at least to me).

I didn't get a clean look at exactly where the smoke was coming from. There was no squealing or other unusual noises. The belt doesn't look any worse from it. I kind of figured when the new one went on that it was going to tweak anything that was on the edge.

I'm a pretty competent DIYer but don't want to have to pull too many things to get to some hidden bolt on the unit. Haven't we all said "looks like just 2 little bolts and it comes right out" only to have it take half the day?

But the car is in front of the house so that means paying the tow truck + $500 for the pump + $88 hour in the shop. It's not running anyhow so I think I'll take a crack at it with the $200 ebay pump.

Any mechanics out there who would advise otherwise?