What sound does the Waterpump make when it dies?

[jdmidwest]

My 99 has been making a noise in the front engine since I have owned it and it is getting a little louder. It sounds like a bearing starting to fail, intermitting squeak and rattle at idle. No coolant leaks, no other problems.

On all of the vehicles I have owned, coolant leaked before the waterpump failure. Will this occur with the 4 runner?

 

[pat161]

When's the last time you changed it? They will tend to leak, but nothing is guaranteed. Are you sure you don't just have a loose belt, what kind of rattle do you hear? Have you done a full T-belt job wihin the last 90k.

 

[ToyTech99]

My 99 has been making a noise in the front engine since I have owned it and it is getting a little louder. It sounds like a bearing starting to fail, intermitting squeak and rattle at idle. No coolant leaks, no other problems.

On all of the vehicles I have owned, coolant leaked before the waterpump failure. Will this occur with the 4 runner?

Yeah, they almost always leak, not just give up and fail. Are you sure you're not hearing a power steering pump bearing? Or maybe even your idler pulley bearing?

 

[JeremyH]

The only moving part that is prone to failure in a water pump is the bearing. If a bearing goes bad, you might hear it squealing....just like a pulley bearing.

I have never seen a water pump just slowly start leaking. I have replaced a few where the bearing seized and the water pump puked out fluid all over the driveway.

Considering how cheap a water pump is, you might want to go ahead and replace it and clean and replace the t-stat and housing while you are in there...

 

[jdmidwest]

I bought it used with 190K and have put 20k on it, the noises have been there since I bought it. The belts were replaced when I got it. I don't think there is an idler pully as it does not have a serpentine belt. I really need to look a little closer.

 

[01t4rnr]

spray some WD40 on the pulley bolts and if it goes away for a day or two , you know its not your water pump

 

[KellyJ]

The only moving part that is prone to failure in a water pump is the bearing. If a bearing goes bad, you might hear it squealing....just like a pulley bearing.

I have never seen a water pump just slowly start leaking. I have replaced a few where the bearing seized and the water pump puked out fluid all over the driveway.

Considering how cheap a water pump is, you might want to go ahead and replace it and clean and replace the t-stat and housing while you are in there...

Exactly what happened to me while driving... the bearing failed and shot through the water pump. Experiencing the engine kicking the can doing 65 MPH up a hill is no fun

 

[LINY4Runner]

T-Belt tensioner and idler pulleys are pretty notorious for taking a shit.

Best bet, get all the parts (t-belt, idler, waterpump, tensioner &/or spring, cam & crank seals, etc) and go to town. If you do it yourself you'll keep it under 200 bucks. Pay someone you'll be upwards of about 700-1000.