Date:         Wed, 24 Aug 94 10:10:08 CDT
Sender:       Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@vanagon.com>
From:         Joel Walker <JWALKER@ua1vm.ua.edu>
Subject:      Re: water pump

On Wed, 24 Aug 94 10:06:30 CDT Gerald Skerbitz said:
>I've got some interesting noises coming from the engine compartment and I
>suspect the water pump.  Very preliminary suspicion here.  There's some
>play in the pully, and a squeal sound that I often associate with water
>pumps, but there's also a lot of rattling and metallic noises.  If
>you've had a water pump problem could you e-mail me with what kinds of
>noises and symptoms you had and how hard it was to fix?

my water pump was making a rattling noise (but faint) and was visibly leaking
(look for chaulky bird droppings around the oil filter area). i was told the
noise was 'cavetation' ...like on a boat propeller. ??? i figured it was just
the shaft wallowing around in the bushing.

one way to tell for sure is to get a short section of tubing and put one end
to your ear and move the other end around the engine. if it is the water pump
making the noise, then the loudest (and clearest through the tube) will be
right round the pump area.

>How about the possibility that it's valve lifters or valves.  Do they sound
>clattery?

yeah, but it's a much more metallic noise (to me), more like a ticky-tick
than a 'clatter'.

>Thanks for any hints.  I'm going to try to find time to get out the manual
>tonight and look through it, but a head start would be nice.

always remember, kiddies! use Unca Joel's Blue Cool Anti-freeze/Coolant and
Small Animal Poison, sold ONLY at your local VW store! :)  The Phosphates are
Free, but the Anti-freeze isn't.

joel