Miata Mailing List: March 2000, Message #249

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Well with 116k, it's almost time for a new timing belt, so go ahead and do
both.....FYI you have to remove the timing belt to replace the water pump,
regardless.  I've heard it suggested for years that every other timing belt change
deserves a water pump change.  I totally agree.  I don't expect water pumps to last
180k miles.

Scot Zediker wrote:

> Yesterday when I was leaving work I noticed that Kate
> had some unusual noise coming from under the hood.
> Near as I can tell, the noise is coming from the water
> pump.
>
> The noise is sort of a dull grinding sound.  The water
> pump does not leak, and I also plan to take off the
> belt and see how freely it turns by hand when I get
> home today.
>
> Also, the PO had an inspection done on Kate before he
> put her up for sale.  One item mentioned in the
> inspection is that the water pump was making some
> noise (this was at about 95K miles; Kate is now a
> couple hundred shy of 116K).
>
> It looks like a simple enough job to change the pump,
> so most likely that is what I will do (along with the
> timing belt, since she's coming due for one).  What I
> need to know is, how critical is it that I change the
> pump right away?  My uncle says that usually a water
> pump will leak when it's about to go south, and it
> also makes a higher-pitched noise than what I
> described.
>
> TIA,
> Scot & Kate
>

Jason and Satori
Riverside, CA

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