1uz Water Pump - appears fine? How to be sure?

[stradlater]

So I pulled the water pump out of the 1uz in an effort to find this 'whining' noise that's directly in correlation with engine speed.

Someone suggested it might be a seized water pump so I pulled it out.

Visual inspection suggests it's fine, infact damn near new.

When I spin it, it takes a TINY bit of effort to spin, and doesn't spin for long after I let go but I wouldn't really class it as seized.

It does make a TINY squeeking noise when I spin it by hand but I just can't see how it could be the problem.

The photos are below - anyone with any advice / thoughts?

Granted other water pumps I've had in the past have spun far more easily - this thing looks a bit more high tech.

[fixeruperer]

you cant be sure, the belt tension could make it growl. id replace it anyway, be that you dont know how old it is, even tho the inside looks pretty good.
the noise might not even be the pump, have you started it without the serpentine belt ?

[stradlater]

Havent yet. Might need to try that. Though the alternator appears to have issues of its own!

Im a but worried its a bearing issue...

[allencr]

The drag is its shaft's seal, probably also the 'squeek' since it's dry.
Any shaft play, able to wobble it? Any roughness at all when turning & putting pressure on the shaft?
Find a better source with a mechanics stethoscope, a piece of hose or a long metal rod. AVOID BELTS!

[stradlater]

Hey Allen -

Thanks for the advice mate. The squeek makes sense. Thanks.

As for shaft play - it's tight as. Seriously, my turbo has more play. It's really tight. Roughness, I don't konw I'll try that.

But it looks pretty good right? in terms of visually.

The tensioners all seem to be good too - it's a toy so I don't want to go spending huge amounts of money refreshing the whole thing if I don't need too!

[RA35GT]

My experience with 1UZ below mate, may or may not apply to your situation!

My water pump was well farked (flogged around like a broom stick in a wheelie bin) and it didn't make any abnormal noises beforehand, just leaked water.

My alternator on the other hand, the bearing in that started making noises and towards the end got really graunchy and even made the engine rock around.

I would do as mentioned above and run it with nothing running of the belts. (I would of run it just with the serpentine belt of before pulling the water pump though!)

[stradlater]

RA35GT - thanks man. that may explain another problem I'm having too!!!

[RA35GT]

For reference, this was my alternator Alternator bearing u/s - YouTube

and this was my water pump http://youtu.be/QIgvXw_5TzY

[4th surf]

Here's a little rule for 1UZ water pumps. Remove it and replace it as it is one of the "Idlers" for the timing belt. GMB pumps for them are not OTT on the price if you know where to shop. Alternators.. Well unless they've been drowned or sitting for a long period not had any bearing issues but complete new units are not expensive either. The main one that makes the noise is the little idler at the top of the belt. You can replace the bearing in these too but need to be carefull

[CrUZida]

That water pump is 16 years old.
Time to change it.

[stradlater]

Are you sure it's 16 years old?

None the less - turns out my motor is interference, and I bent a valve trying to redo the cam belt.

So, the motor is fucked either which way now.

Can i change a valve without pulling the head off?

[CrUZida]

3rd pic, you can see 6/96 cast into it (or 96/9...). Thats the date it was cast.
So its fair to assume thats roughly the date it was fitted.

And given that yours is interference, its a late model non-vvti (94-98), so its probably the original pump.

And no, the head has to come off to replace the valve.

[stradlater]

Ah. I see.

Are you sure it's interference? Only reason I ask that is I want to confirm my suspicions. I've just done a comp test and it's 0 on cylinder 4 which leads me to thinking that I've bent that valve.

How hard is it to replace a valve?

Basically now I'm thinking either replace the motor, or try and fix that valve. Is it likely to have munched the piston too?

[oldcorollas]

oh crap

pull the cam cover and see if the valves are coming back up properly or not?
look thru spark plug hole to try adn see marks on pistons etc...

if it kissed valve at low speed, piston is probably fine.

replace valve = same difficulty as changing head gasket, with the added bonus of trying not to break the cam when loosening the caps..

[stradlater]

I can imagine getting the tension right on the head bolts for a 1uz would be a bit of a challenge yeah?