qwert98

So I was driving for about 12 hours up the east coast and now I hear a whining noise. It whines according to the RPM's and sounds like it coming from the water pump.

Question is, how hard is it to change the water pump, and where is it? I have a few places it could be, but neither looks overly obvious. Is it run off the serpentine belt? Do I have to lift the engine to do this? Is this a simple job like it is on my jeep?

Any advice would be much appreciated!!! Thanks!!

xlr8r

a search will show that this is a major PITA job.
You wanna make absolutely sure before you start this job.

are you losing any water?

CRiME

iTrader: (21)

the water pump is driven by the timing chain. it's a pretty involved job as you are very limited on working space, and you'll basically be working blind should you chose the access cover method instead of removing the timing cover. To make more room, you do have the option of removing the passenger side motor mount. When you're removing the tensioner, be extremely careful, because it's pretty much spring loaded and WILL 'explode', with parts of it falling into the timing cover. it will be a very interesting task retrieving the parts from in there, to say the least.

For those reasons, and since I didn't have the time or space to tackle it myself, I chose to have a shop do it. They did it for $375 including the new pump and fresh coolant.

But before you jump the gun, are you sure the noise is coming from the water pump? Do you have any coolant leakage by the oil pan area? In most cases, when a whining pops up, the source is either the alternator or AC compressor. Over the winter, for example, I drove through a deep puddle during a heavy downpour and the next day, I had a whine that resembled that of a failing alternator. Using the long screwdriver method, I traced it to my AC compressor. You can try that - get a long screwdriver and carefully touch the AC compressor and the alternator, put your ear to the other end and see if you can narrow down possible sources of the noise.

mtrai760

iTrader: (19)

for the alternator whine

qwert98

Great Advice!!

I am not losing any water, and I will try the method with the screw driver. It doesn't change when I turn on the A/C. Should it - if it was the A/C compressor?


Thanks a bunch!

qwert98

OK, so it sounds like it may be coming from the alternator... I probed it and I could hear the wine best from the alternator, but I don't see the water pump to probe.

Any diagnotics I could do? Multimeter, unplug alternator? Take out? Put large drag on it?

Curt Deiner

iTrader: (1)

Remove the alt/ac belt, start the car and see if it's still whinning.

CRiME

iTrader: (21)

As the poster above said, you can remove your serpentine belt and then start the car. if the noise is gone then you know it is either the alternator or the AC compressor, since they are driven by the same belt. But in your case, since you seem to have narrowed it down to the alternator, if the noise is gone after starting the car without the belt, then that test should confirm that the alternator is the source of it.

If the noise was coming from the AC compressor, it should have gone away when the AC was turned on. Since your noise exists with or without the AC turned on, the alternator is the more likely source.

qwert98

Sorry to be a PITA but I just want to confirm that the timing is not off the serpentine belt.

Am I safe taking off the serpenitne belt - or will it screw something else up? Maybe water pump, timing etc....???

CRiME

iTrader: (21)

Nope, we have timing chains. The timing chain is inside of the timing cover, and it is also what drives the water pump; that is why you weren't able to see the waterpump.

Just be sure to note the approximate tension of the belt before you remove it (by twisting it left and right and noting the current deflection), so that you can set it back to the same tension when you reinstall it.

qwert98

The winner is... the ALTERNATOR....

njmaxseltd

iTrader: (19)

Makes sense, WP's don't wine, they just weep when they go.

petro2342

I was going to say 99% sure your problem was the alternator. Friend had it on his Altima and it annoyed the hell out of me.

realtorgreg

My max is also making a whining noise near the timing chain/water pump area. It whines when idleing, and is louder depending on RPM's. Alt has been replaced approx 3yrs ago. I don't notice any coolant leaking. Any ideas???

vqmaxman

It's the alternator,But try the screw driver method and pin point the exact problem by listing to the noise with the screw driver.

qwert98

FYI Advance Auto matches internet pricing too! Saved about $75. The alternator is a PITA to change too. Gotta remove the AC compressor and bunch of other stuff...

maf2003111

iTrader: (1)

replacing the alt is super easy, Ive done it like 4 times and i can have it down in 1hr tops as long as nothing else happens. don't need to take nothing off but idler pulley bearing and AC(4bolts) and AC connection plug(top of AC). One tip i would give you is to make sure to get the EXACT alt. a local place that rebuilds alts gave me one very similar but the space between where you have the big screw(bottom screw i believe) for the alt was bigger which made the alt housing bin when i tighten the alt down which made the bearing freeze and blew that alt . so make sure its the same alt and that the bearing free spins when you tighten everything down.

97 4thgen

getting the alternator whine through the speakers in with the radio on any ideas on how to fix it i just replaced the alternator 3 days ago also

Br0nz

if it continued after new alternator it may be a bad rebuilt alt if not check your grounds.

97 4thgen

i have checked the ground on the battery and it was a little loose and it has quieted thank you

asand1

iTrader: (1)

When you here the whining noise, you should have your GF/wife move to the back seat and see if it gets any quiter. Sometimes It can be the kids in the back seat too, I'm only speculating though, because my wife and kids don't ride in my max much.

97 4thgen

na im not thinking its the kid because she still sleeps on car rides but i do hear some strange noises coming from the passenger seat every once in a while but i usually just tune that out with the radio

53jimc

I'm not trying to muddy the waters here, but, I've had a couple of cars over the years that had the dreaded whine (with wife out of car) and it turned out to be the power steering pump. Like others said, it's probably not the WP, or, at least you hope it's not.

streetzlegend

iTrader: (8)

Never heard a water pump cause whining noise. has to be your alternator.

97 4thgen

I just replaced my alternator and was driving down the road and my car started acting like the battery was dead and eventually just died in the parking lot. The car would start if I jumped it but as soon as I took the cables off it would die. Any ideas already checked the battery and was able to pull start it with a truck to get it home

cashoit

Your alternator is not charging your battery. REplace alternator.

97 4thgen

I just did replace the alternator

K-Ryder

iTrader: (1)

All you gotta do is just remove the wheel, AC Compressor, Tensioner, belt and thats about it. Not that hard to do. I did that in the dark with just a flash light.

K-Ryder

iTrader: (1)

You need a new battery. Alternator can charge the battery, but the battery has to be able to hold the charge, if its weak then its not going to hold. A good battery is 12.6 volts, if its below that, then its dying. If its 10.3v or 9.4v get a new battery, sooner or later it will not start up again. Only how you can tell if your Alternator is dying is when you start the car and the volts reads below 14.4v but it fluctuates between 14.3v and 14.4v which is ok. Anything below then you need a new alternator.

97 4thgen

And the battery is good as well.

K-Ryder

iTrader: (1)

What type a battery do you have, or rather what brand. Sometimes stores sell you a recharged battery and it ends up dying weeks after. Or maybe something else is drawing power when the car is off.

97 4thgen

Its my buddies red top out of his R32

bobflood

If car starts with a jump, but then dies when you remove cables, that points to alternator/connections being bad. Normally, you can remove the battery from a car when the engine is running; the alternator provides the juice to keep it going. Check all of the connections to the alternator to make sure everything is plugged in tight. If they are OK, then pull the alternator and have it tested - they can be bad right out of the box. I now routinely have the parts store verify new alternators and starters before I leave the store. Good luck and let us know what finally resloves the issue.

MonsterMan53

I have the same problem sometimes. I got it after I took out the bose headunit and put an aftermarket one in. Some of my HS friends think its a turbo

willbur

also check the pulley belt tension-er but i would bet on the alternator,check the pulley on the compressor with the engin off grab the pulley with both hands if you can make it wobble (rocking it )your looking at a rebuilt compressor i know i had to do mine,i look into replacing just the pulley/clutch nissan almost $500. after market $400 app. rebuilt comp pump with new pulley/clutch after market $300. out the door