Miata Mailing List: March 2000, Message #348

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Scot inquired:

>>>>....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.... Kate is now a couple hundred shy of 116K)....What I
need to know is, how critical is it that I change the pump right away?>>>

Could also be the noise is coming from the timing belt tensioner/pulleys
mounted on the water pump housing.  Those will be your call when you get a
better look at it.  They are not part of a replacement pump and purchased
seperately.  Replacing the water pump was not difficult but spent some time
getting the return hose connected even after moving the power steering pump.

Not sure how critical it is to replace right away but felt more comfortable
doing it when the first tiny leak was detected.  From the people I know
with 120 K to 190 K miles on early Miatas, that is about the only failure
we all experienced other than a few split radiators.  Replacing the timing
belt and seals seems a wise move when factoring in cost of parts and time
involved doing it later.


Good Luck
Jim Creer