My water pump makes a whizzing sound. I felt the temp of both hoses to check if one is warmer than the other (checking for flow) and both are fairly equal in temp. Thermostat is new. Any suggestions?

 

r u sure that it is not a fuel pump.


Mark

 

car runs fine as far as fuel. I'm still dealing w/ this temp issue and noticed this whizzing sound. It's coming from the pully connected to the water pump but the water flow seems fine. Maybe it seems fine to me but I have a feeling something is going wrong.

 

The w/p bearing may be going out. Pull and push on the w/p pulley and see if there is play. If it is too loose the w/p may have to be replaced. How old is it? Also check the other pulleys (except the crank) as they all have bearings that wear. If you do replace it you should decide what else you may want to replace.

 

I know that normally the major signs of a water pump going bad is A) extreme leaking and B) rapid rise in engine temperature. I'm not leaking coolant nor am I seeing the temp gauge shoot up fast (but it does get hot in stop and go traffic). I'll try tha pulley test and see if there's any play. I want to fix this problem but at the same time I don't want to be buying and replacing parts that are fine. Any other suggestions?

 

what do you mean when you say "hot". It's not unusual for these cars to get up to 100C in stop and go traffic with the A/C on and outside temps above 90F. As long as your temp goes back to around 85C once you get moving, I wouldn't worry about it.

 

I know about the 124's high engine temp characteristic but mines will constantly run at 100 even after I get going. It will also reach that temp or even higher when I'm sitting at long fast food drive throughs and even more so when I have the A/C on. I'm starting to run out of ideas. I just want to make sure whatever I fix is the problem. I just want my 124 to operate flawlessly before I do any trick things to it.

 

Actually, the classic signs of a water pump going bad are leakage and noise. It's the rare case that you'd see a rapid rise in engine temperature due to a failing WP -- only if it completely failed (frozen bearing, impeller falling off, etc.). Of course that would be accompanied by lots and lots of noise. What fails most often in the WP is the bearing, and sometimes that's preceded by the seal, which results in the leakage.

I don't know what you're describing as a whizzing sound, but you can isolate the WP bearing with a mechanic's stethoscope to see if that's indeed where the sound is coming from. Whizzing might be okay, grinding or clunking type sounds would not. If you have really odd mechanical noises coming from the WP it's possible the impeller is not properly fixed to the shaft and that would reduce cooling.

Before looking at other things, have you confirmed that it's simply not a bad reading (bad guage or bad sensor)?

I don't know if you have another thread running about what you've tried, so I'll kind of summarize and try to be very basic. There are two halves of the cooling system, the liquid and the air. The liquid draws the heat from the engine, and the air draws the heat from the liquid (through the radiator). Thus, you have to look at both halves of the equation whenever you have a cooling problem. First check to make sure your hoses are all sound and not leaking. Same with the cap and the remainder of the cooling system and you may need to pressure-test the system to find leaks, you can rent a pressure tester at some auto parts stores. Leaks are bad on two fronts: they not only let coolant escape, but they release pressure, which will lower the boiling point of the coolant dramatically. It can also induce cavitation and air pockets in the liquid side, both of which reduce the coolant's ability to draw heat from the engine and to shed it to the air passing through the radiator fins. Soft hoses (particularly on the intake side of the equation) can be sucked shut, decreasing coolant flow, with a host of negative consequences.

If that all checks out then a new thermostat and a proper flushing/back-flushing of the cooling system may be in order. Note that sometimes during a flushing the WP bearing will actually make noise, thus indicating it's need for replacement. After flushing, it's important to refill with the proper coolant in the proper proportion. Too high a percentage of coolant will both drop the boiling point and cause an increase in operating temperature.

That's pretty much the liquid side. On the air side, you would need to check for blocked or bent fins in the radiator or A/C condenser (since air has to pass through both). These are often mounted very close together and I've seen leaves and junk (even mice) stuck between the two, blocking off up to the bottom 1/4 of the radiator fins. Thus you may have to partially remove the radiator or condenser to make a thorough investigation. Some cars also have an air deflector mounted low to deflect air up through the radiator/condenser and you should check to make sure this is in place and not damaged, falling off, etc.

If the car has normal temp out on the open road, but runs too hot in town, the fan(s) or fan clutch should be checked.

If everything checks out and the operating temperature in normal conditions exceeds the typical temp for that brand and model, then it is possible there may be an obstruction in the liquid side of things, perhaps corrosion that has blocked a passage in the block or head, or clogged cooling tubes in the radiator. This is more likely if you have an older car that has not been properly maintained or one into which people have poured in lots of stop leak; many of those congeal in passageways and block or reduce coolant flow.

Lastly, if everything works properly but you're still not happy with the temp, an auxilary radiator (or a larger radiator) is the ultimate cure. Often you can have your old radiator re-cored with a larger core that will increase the capacity of both the liquid side as well as providing more cooling area for the air side.

Good luck and enjoy the ride,
Greg

 

does your whizzing sound go away after the car is warmed up? Mine goes away after the engine heats up.

 

The sound doesn't go away when warm. The cooling sytem is solid with the exception of the annoying sound in the water pump area. No coolant leaks at all and no drain or evaporation of coolant as I check the reservoir daily. I know the thermostat is new and although my electric fan is not working I understand its moslty to keep airflow for the A/C system. I'm starting to get frustrated, I'm so close to taking it to a mechanic and biting whatever bullet comes my way. The car runs fine even without a functioning electric fan and even with the whizzing sound. I just want to make sure everything is running at its best just to feel secure about it.

 

Well, I just came back from doing the "mechanic's sthesoscope" and checked the pulley for play. Pully is stiff, no play and the pump sounds smooth as hell but the whizzing is still there. I guess I'll reflush the system and see what happens afterward. As far as my electric fan, I think I'm just going to have it serviced.

 

It's not just for the AC but also cooling. Check for blockage of airflow as well as noted in the long reply above.