911 41 Water Pump failure - stuck in Williams

[autoluke]

A lucky accident..

A I was preparing to remove the pump, I spilled some water on the belts, and eureka, the noise stopped.
The noise in question sounds exactly like a failed bearing, so that I am still puzzled with the dilemma.

New belts, and no misalignment with the pulleys.

[Steve Passmore]

Many new belts sound that way. Cadillac had a very peculiar angle to their belts which I have not seen duplicated so replacements can squeal. I always hit the belts with a quick blast of WD40 to eliminate them if searching for weird noises.

[gary griffin]

I have used a bar of soap rubbing on the turning belt. A candle should do it also.  The correct angle of V belts for our flatheads are no longer produced.

[Bill Ingler #7799]

Since you said you put on new belts then I presume a new fan belt. You could have a fan hub bearing going bad and when tightening up the new fan belt this added more down pressure on the hub bearing causing the noise. This bearing like the axle bearings are sealed bearings so unless that fan hub bearing has been changed since the car left the factory, any grease in that bearing is as old as the car. If you are rebuild the water pump and replacing both belts, then consider replacing the fan hub bearing.    Bill

[autoluke]

A possibility, but why would the sealed fan bearing be silenced by the water ?

[Bill Ingler #7799]

Phil: As you probably know a squealing noise from a belt usually is caused by improper tension on the belt causing the belt to slip on the pulley. A second cause of squealing might be that the belt is old, the surface of the belt has become glazed and slips on the pulley. Now to temporally stop a belt squeal, rub a bar of soap on the belt or use a belt conditioner. Water will temporally do the same thing. You say in a previous posting that the noise sounds like a failed bearing so that is why I talked about the fan hub bearing. As Steve and Gary have posted, the correct angle of the belts made today do not match the inside angle of the pulleys on the car and new belts will eventually show ware on the sides of the belt near the top of the pulley.  The more these cog type belts wear, the more noise is produced from these belts.

Your belts are new so I would go back and check for the proper tension on your belts and see if that stops the noise.    Bill

     

[Eric Voigt]

I now have 3 pumps which need to be rebuilt.

Any suggestions?  I am aware of the following but I would like to find where All Cads is getting them done as they are excellent, upgraded bearings (never needs to be greased) and seals as well as impeller pinned to the shaft
- Arthur Gould
- Flying Dutchman

[gene harl]

the flying dutchman  is great.. good work,good price  and a 1 to 2 day  turn around ..
     Gene Harl   

[Bill Ingler #7799]

Second on the Dutchman. They have rebuilt 3 pumps for me and many more for others here in Phoenix. Never heard of any problems.  Bill