Waterpump shaft squeak

J

Jewels

Junior Member
I have greased the Waterpump through the zerk, but it is still squeaking. Was looking at the pump diagram in The Mechanics Handbook, but not sure what piece is likely to be the cause of the noise. Any suggestion....
 
How is the belt alignment? Belts can give a squeal.

Be sure you don't have more than a few thousandths end play, or the thrust washer can fall out of place and cause damage. Can you picture no impellor to keep the fan from pulling forward? One inch forward and the radiator is toast.:eek:
 

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I agree with Mike V. Sometimes when the longer pump shaft is used or a new head with no wear on the boss you can get a squeak or bind. The pump shaft needs .006 clearance between the shaft and the boss in the head. If you have a leakless pump or a rear bushing with a seal, they will usually have a squeak. A small bottle of water pump lubricant will stop the squeak and help prevent rust in the water jacket. I chased this problem for a while before finding the cause. I thought it was the fan belt. Belt dressing really makes a mess and doesn't help a bit if the problem is really a noisey seal in trhe rear bushing.
 
Definitely the water pump, not the generator or fan belt. How do I check the clearance between the water pump shaft and housing? Is the housing the flat, square piece where the pump assembly bolts to the engine? Also, how do I check the clearance between the shaft and the "boss" in the head. (I can't seem to find a diagram that shows the boss.) And finally, do I need to remove the water pump to apply the water pump lubricant to the rear bushing?

Thanks so much for your help. Don't know what I would do without all of you. FYI, I cut my hand pretty bad yesterday. It might be a few days before I can pick up a wrench. Probably should have had stitches....
 
The water pump was leaking earlier in the summer. Is it possible I tightened the locking nut too tight, which decreased the clearance to the head, and is now causing the squeak?
 
Tightening the packing nut will not affect the clearance (end play). If you loosen the packing nut all the way then you can push the fan back and forth and hope you don't have more than about .010" clearance. If you do have more then you can just install a locking collar on the front of the pump, under the fan hub. Be sure to use lead packing rings with lots of grease smeared around them. You should just pump grease into the 2 greas fittings to lube the front bearing and rear bushing. After greasing the rear bushing reinstall the packing nut.
 
If you follow Tom's advice, which I heartily recommend, then see that the fan spins freely on the collar without interference from the pump casting. I recently had to take a file to a pump casting to smooth the nose. This is what MikeK was referring to. The reason this problem occurs is due to using a repro fan and not an original fan. Repro fans are ever so slightly thicker in the pulley area than original fans. Filing the pump casting is a 10 minute job-at most.
 
Jewels said:
Definitely the water pump, not the generator or fan belt. How do I check the clearance between the water pump shaft and housing? Is the housing the flat, square piece where the pump assembly bolts to the engine? Also, how do I check the clearance between the shaft and the "boss" in the head. (I can't seem to find a diagram that shows the boss.) And finally, do I need to remove the water pump to apply the water pump lubricant to the rear bushing?

Thanks so much for your help. Don't know what I would do without all of you. FYI, I cut my hand pretty bad yesterday. It might be a few days before I can pick up a wrench. Probably should have had stitches....
Click to expand...

What Tom says. You can't actually measure clearance at the boss in the head. When there is end play in an installed water pump, you can wipe the pump shaft off to remove any oil that would interfere with marking the pump shaft with a fine tip magic marker. Push the shaft backwards as far back as it will go in the head and mark the shaft at the packing nut. Pull the shaft foward as far as it will move and measure the gap between the mark on the pump shaft and the packing nut. Ten thousants clearance will be good but no less than .006 . A collar on the front of the shaft is a good idea to lock out excessive free play. I use the modern front bearing and sleeve to remove end play. The water pump lubricant is just poured in the radiator and will quiet the neoprene rear seal if you have the sealed rear bushing.. Over tightening the packing nut runs the risk of spinning the threaded rear bushing in the pump housing and ruining the water pump. The best way that I have found to grease the rear fitting is to back the packing nut off the rear bushing. Put grease in the rear fitting until grease comes out around the pump shaft. Put some more grease in the packing nut around the packing and re install the packing nut. You shouldn't have to tighten the packing nut real tight to stop the leak. If reasonable tightening doesn't work, back the packing nut back off and add more packing and grease. The packing needs to be greasy to work.
 
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