Diagnosing water pump fault?

[djuk]

Hi guys,

Firstly great to see a great place about the legendary car that is the MK3 Astra

Got a quick question - I had my alternator and aux/drive belt replaced by my old man yesterday as my alternator had died, that seems perfect now, but I've come across another problem and the o/m has gone away so I can't get hold of him to check.

I noticed the car seems to be making a new noise, well two in fact. One sounds like a high speed tapping/light clicking noise when I boot the accelerator (approx 2,000+ revs, but it does ease off the noise).

The other thing was I noticed an odd water gurgling/churning noise whilst sat in the car. As far as I know, my o/m never never went anywhere near coolant/rad/cambelt at all, and only replaced the alt. & the alt/power steering etc belt as it was a bit cracked and said it was best to do so as I hadnt changed it in 2 years.

Has he somehow disturbed and screwed the water pump too? Is there any way I can check simply so I can at least get another ordered until he gets back?

I did notice the car running hot for a 15 minute drive yesterday on way back home from o/m's, particularly as it was a cold day. Heaters were fine yesterday, but fan was kicking in when I was idling.

I've checked coolant level and its not moved in months! Rarely top it up anyway. Checked the top rad hose whilst engine was running and it did seem very squidgy compared to normal - and when I did squeeze it it looked like a lot of air was coming out (which is odd as we never went anywhere near cooling as I said) and bubbling in header tank.

Thanks guys.

 

[kompo001]

Need to know what engine you have for a start. Water noise could be head gasket problems, any sign of water in your oil? Normal for rad fan to cut in in traffic. If car was over-heating, top hose would be solid, not 'squidgy' and you would lose water through the expansion tank cap. I woud run car at idle with expansion tank cap removed for a while, see if the air escapes...Just keep an eye on the level.
Cheers.
Phil.

 

[Rusty]

Sounds like the headgasket gone between waterway and a cylinder to me.

 

[djuk]

Ah yeah that would help - its '95 1.4 8v, C14NZ engine.

Theres no mayo/gunk in filler cap or dipstick, there was a bit of build up a a month or so ago (but its mainly used for twice daily 10 min trips to work!) before I did 500~ miles in the car, and its been clear since.

I've just been out trying to source the problem again. The ever so slight ticking/clicking/spinning noise seems to be coming from the new alternator. Is this some kind of burn in or something for them?

The gurgling noise isn't really a gurgling. Its more like something is "flowing"/heavy dripping soon as I take foot off the accelerator.

At the risk of extreme stupidity, I've let it settle and cool and I'll check the oil level in a bit, as I've not actually checked it for a while properly, and I'm wondering if its the oil dripping into the pan.... would you hear that from inside the car?

I'll be relieved but annoyed with myself if it is the oil running a bit low

 

[Lefthooker]

make sure you have not over tightened the alt belt ,,, sounds like the bearing is under too much tension

 

[djuk]

Well checked out the oil and it was a little low, so topped it up anyway, but thats not the cause of anything.

Investigating further it seems like the running water noise is coming from down in the footwells, which would leave me to guess its coming from the heater matrix as I cant hear it externally. So air/air lock in the heater matrix?

Still getting heat as normal from heaters, and it did appear to ease off (the noise) after warming up and running for a bit.

But it all is a bit worrying, as I said we went nowhere near cooling system at all, so airs got in there somewhere which can only leave me to presume the worst - head gasket gone?

Weirdly though the coolant doesnt look oily/brown, and the oil that was coming off the dipstick was a attractive deep black rather than chocolately style, and I've noticed no loss in power at all.

Just what I need to be honest when I'm off to Paris in the damn thing in a week....!

 

[Rusty]

Investigating further it seems like the running water noise is coming from down in the footwells, which would leave me to guess its coming from the heater matrix as I cant hear it externally. So air/air lock in the heater matrix?

Does it do it for a few seconds when you start the car, then stop?

 

[djuk]

Nope, pretty much all the time, but its worse when the car first starts cold.

 

[Rusty]

Still reckon it's a head gasket problem

 

[TMODAlpha]

Get a compression test done just to rule it out. They dont take long and they are cheap. Have you tried bleeding your coolant system? Just to try and get all the air out and see if it returns. I have the same problem with a C14NZ of mine. Sounds like trickling from the heater matrix. Replaced that and had the head gasket done, still got the noise. Just one of those things.

Just something worth checking. Get someone to rev the engine, and see if water comes flowing from the overflow at the top of the header tank. I have found some of my noise to come from there.