There really is a never ending list with this car - good job I kinda like it...

Latest is what I think will prove to be the water pump on the way out. There's a suspicious noise (at ~1500rpm) that sounds from the drivers seat like it's from there, but it's not yet done it when I've been able to pop the bonnet and have a proper listen!

So, a couple of questions:
1 - what's involved with a pump swap on an AJ16? Does anything need to come off to get to it? Anything that should be replaced at the same time?

2 - I've seen pumps for sale without the pulley, but I can't see how the pulley's attached! Anyone shed any light? Or do I just need one with the pulley?

edit: one more!
3 - Are all X300 waterpumps the same?

 

Mine's an XJR so the comparison isn't exact. I had to take a the supercharger belt adjuster and idle pulley off but that's about it as I recall. I'll put it this way: if you've replaced a water pump on any other car, you can do it on an X300 6 cylinder.







If the drive belts are worn, now's the time!








It's pressed on. But all the pumps I've seen come with a pulley. I wouldn't buy one any other way, personally.







Yes, as far as I can tell. Except the V12s, of course :-)

One tip:

Before installing your new pump carefully compare it to the old one. The pump I bought, as it turns out, was incorrectly assembled causing physical interference between the impellor and the pump housing. I didn't notice this before installation. Result: I had to do the job twice.

Alsmost certainly a one-off fluke but thought I'd mention it just the same.

Cheers
DD

 

By the way....

Before replacing the pump slacken the belts....you don't have to actually fully remove them from the car....and give your idler pulleys a spin.

When the idler pulleys fail the sound is very much like a worn water pump bearing !

Cheers
DD

 

I would suspect the idler pulley. If the pump bearing were going, it would probably leak. Try to wiggle the pump pulley and see if there is some play. Not conclusive since there is a lot of tension on the belt.

 

All good stuff - thanks!

On some engines the water pump is a job to do at the same time as a cambelt change - one would hope that's not the same on a chain driven lump, but you never know! Sounds like a fairly simple one.

The belt's nearly new - and I've not got the AC belt fitted at the mo, so that limits the number of suspects. Is there an idler pulley on the main drive belt? I can't picture the layout. I'll slacken the belt and have a feel, but tbh I wouldn't mind doing the job anyway - I can't remember the last car I had that didn't have a waterpump fail at a most inconvenient moment...

 

I changed mine a few weeks after I bought the car, 120K mi and no record of it being changed. I bought it via ebay fo $70, no exchange, made in China. So far no problem, but if I take a trip the old one will be in the boot.
It is not very difficult, although some of the bolts are a pita because they're under the pulley, somewhat. Just take the air pump off, if you have one and you can loosen the belt. I replaced octopus and the hose from the pump to the engine at the same time, and also the upper hose and the thermostat.

 

I'll answer my own question - no there isn't! So it's water pump or alternator...

 

Ta

I've not yet found anything within half that price. I don't mind paying for quality if that's what I'm getting, but I have a sneaking suspicion that they're expensive purely because they can get away with it...

 

In '08, on my first go-round with my water pumps, I found brand new pumps ranging anywhere from $400-$600. Gah ! I bought a rebuilt from Coventry West for about $100 as I recall.

A couple months ago, faced with the same job, I asked CW for another rebuilt pump. This time, though, they offered a brand new pump for only $150 or so....so I snapped it up. Not sure who makes it. It came in an plain cardboard box....always a bit suspicious in my book.

As mentioned, the first one was incorrectly manufactured. More suspicion... but I'll chalk that up to being a fluke. The replacement seems fine so far but ask me again in 3 or 4 years :-)

It's very hard to know what you're getting these days. Even parts carrying a well respected name are increasingly subject to label engineering.

Anyhow....keep shopping around. :-)

Cheers
DD

 

I'm quite surprised to be honest - for other cars they're generally far more clearly labelled. Eg brand-X for £XX, or brand-Y for £YY. And they're all cheaper than any AJ16 pumps I can find!

 

Well I'd been unable to detect any play in the water pump with the belt attached, so I've just been keeping my fingers crossed that it doesn't fail at an inconvenient moment! Pulled the belt off yesterday though and there's no play, but perhaps a little bit of roughness in the bearing. I wouldn't have thought it was enough to make such a noise, but it's not quite as smooth as the alternator pulley - the obvious convenient comparison.

Sometimes it makes a noise at idle, other times just between ~1k & ~1.7k rpm. Other days, not at all! This should (I've not uploaded one before!) be a link to a video I've put on youtube, of one of the days when it was noisy at idle. Any thoughts much appreciated!

 

What's the blue thing at :10??

 

LPG injectors.

 

that's what i was going to guess.

 

Well spotted!


So, anyone had a water pump sound like that?!

 

No? I'm going to be really fed up if I replace the WP and it was something else - someone reassure me!

 

Mine wasn't making any noise and the octopus wasn't leaking, but I replaced the pump and the radiator hoses anyway. I'm just getting paranoid in my old age.

 

I'm my automotive experience, a water pump sounding like that would definitely be leaking. I would look somewhere else. Pull the belt and start wiggling every pulley for movement

 

Same here, but there are 3 pulleys - water pump, alternator, crank. I've had the belt off - no play!

Could anyone do me a quick test? If you touch the body of the water pump with the engine running (before it gets hot, please don't burn yourself!), is there significantly more vibration there than on say the thermostat housing or the alternator? Mine feels to me like it is indeed the cause of the noise, I'm just struggling with the counter-intuitive lack of play or leaking!

If I could get one of the $70 pumps that are available in the US, I'd have just swapped it by now. They're all ~£100+ ($160) here though, which is pushing it for something that still could be fine...

 

One of these would help....only $7 or so in most parts stores in the USA.

KD Tools KDS835 Mechanics Stethoscope, Listening Tools - Toolfetch.com

Did you start the engine when you had the belt off? If the noise disappeared then you'd know for a fact that it was one of the belt driven devices.

It's not absolutely carved in granite that a noisy bearing will be a loose bearing. Sure would be nice if it was, though :-)

Might try unplugging the alternator. If the noise diminishes or disappears with no electrical load, there ya go!


Cheers
DD