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97 LeSabre Water Pump Leak

My 97 LeSabre needs a new water pump because it is leaking. At the same time that the leak started I began to hear a new, fairly high pitched whining sound which I assumed was a bearing in the pump. The service shop told me that the new noise is actually coming from the tension arm because the bearing on the tension arm's pulley is bad.

How could these two problems occur at the same time? Could coolant be leaking onto the tension arm, and could that cause the secondary problem?

Also, if coolant has been getting onto the belt for about a week, does the belt need to be replaced. The service shop thinks that they can salvage the belt.

Cal.

Reply to
Cal
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By the way, my car has the 3.8 V6 engine.

Cal.

Reply to
Cal

It seems dumb to me to put the old belt back on. It isn't that expensive.

Reply to
Woody

Parts can wear out whenever they feel like it. The car is pushing 8 years old. How many miles?

If the Water pump bearing is making noise you could possibly better pin point what component it is by using a listening device. This could also be used for altenator & tensioner noises to, you just need to be careful around the moving parts. Also slipping the belt off & spinning pulleys by hand may also let you know which one is noisey.

If The tensioner is higher than the water pump I doubt it would get wet.

Is the belt the orioginal? If the belt isn't to badly cracked you could probably get more time out of it, but seeing your car has that belt that goes around the motor mount It probably would be a good idea to get a new one seeing the water pump is being replaced.

Make sure it isn't your intake manifold gasket leaking on the side of the engine that the water pump is on.

Good Luck !

========= Harryface =========

1991 Pontiac Bonneville LE 3800 V6 ( C ), Black/Slate Grey _~_~_~296,524 miles_~_~_

~_~_~_~_U.S.A._~_~_~_~_~_

~~~The Former Fleet ~~~

89 Cavalier Z 24 convertible 78 Holiday 88 coupe 68 LeSabre convertible 73 Impala sedan
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Harry Face

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