My car is pissing me off

[BlackVert]

that makes 3 of us

 

[revhead347]

Well, I changed the tensioner pulley because I was not happy with the width of the one on there. It always looked like the belt was going to fall off. Changed the AC compressor clutch assembly, because the engagement plate was falling apart anyway. Still squealed like crazy. Got in there with the stethiscope, and it was the water pump. Never heard of a water pump bearing going like that. Ordered a new Stewart stage 1 off Summit today. Should be here by tuesday. At least the water pump is easy to change on these cars. Hopefully I can get it done Tuesday afternoon. I have to do a complete suspension swap on a 92' Mustang for a friend on wednesday.

Kurt

 

[393strokervert]

are you positive it is the water pump? you said you just replaced the power steering pump.
now, I had this exact problem a couple of years ago with my ford windstar van.I had everything off of the motor to rebuild as it had spun a rod. when I put it all back together I had a aweful squeal. so, out came the stethoscope, I was positive it was the power steering pump (fail), idler pulley(fail ),then the tensioner (again, fail), sounded all the world like the water pump ( again, no fixy) I felt like putting a hammer thru the windshield! then it dawned on me....... I had to take the power steering bracket off of the the motor in order to get the motor out of the car which involed removing the PS pulley.
after replacing all those GOOD parts, turns out I didn't put the PS pulley back on far enough! it looked fine but one more full turn of the pulley installer fixed it. it was off just enough to reek total havoc! oh yeah I also replaced the bearings in the ALT & tried (2) different belts during my quest to find the never ending squeal!
sorry for the long post but wanted to put that out there for consideration.

 

[revhead347]

Yeah, I read that too fast the first time, and thought you said it squealed because it spun a rod bearing. I'm pretty sure it's the water pump. I cranked that power steering pump pulley down level with the shaft. The water pump is about 9 years old, so I don't feel bad about changing it anyway. So much of this stuff is old enough to warrant replacement.

Kurt

 

[393strokervert]

Yeah, I read that too fast the first time, and thought you said it squealed because it spun a rod bearing. I'm pretty sure it's the water pump. I cranked that power steering pump pulley down level with the shaft. The water pump is about 9 years old, so I don't feel bad about changing it anyway. So much of this stuff is old enough to warrant replacement.

Kurt

ok, it was just a thought & again, sorry for the long post but I wasn't sure how to say it without it being long.
like you said, probably a good idea to replace the water pump anyway.
one way just to make sure it is not the PS pulley being off a hair is to start the motor & lightly pour a little water on the PS pulley/belt while it is running & see if it changes the squealing at all. don't ask me where I got that idea but I was at my wit's end when I did that to my windstar & it proved to me that it was in fact the pulley all along.
best of luck on getting it fixed, Joe

 

[revhead347]

Yeah, I'll give it a try if this doesn't fix it. I'm hoping the water pump works. Everyone seems to be gay for Stewart water pumps on this website, so it'll be a welcome change.

Kurt

 

[revhead347]

Found the problem. The balancer went to crap and was grinding against the water pump.

Kurt

 

[Black95GTS]

That's a new one.

Another day another dollar.

Adam

 

[desertcox05]

you are so lucky the HB didn't come apart
glad you found it

 

[393strokervert]

looks fine to me...... never seen that before, but then again there's alot of things I haven't seen.


glad you found the problem. at least you caught it before it caused anymore damage.

 

[revhead347]

Yeah, I'm really glad I found it too. The wobble was not bad enough to notice just by looking at it. but just to illustrate how bad it is. If you look at the outside edge of the balander, you'll see some yellow markings. Those are the remains of of a thick vinyl marking tape. (I put one of those $4 vinyl marking tapes from Summit on the balancer to make timing adjustments easier.) The wobble ground through the tape into the pulley.

Kurt

 

[393strokervert]

yeah, I see it. not good.