Time for a little maintenance over the past weekend. For a few weeks now I have been having a squeak coming from the front of the motor. Noise increases with RPM of motor. Was getting to the point of starting to sound like metal grinding. The sounds changed with ambient temps going up or down ( cold in MN here!). I went ahead and grabbed a new water pump, fel-pro gaskets, and bolts. Water pump job took a little longer than expected for two reasons.
First, I tried to get fancy and actually use the drain on the radiator. I wasted probably 2-3 hours trying to get good access to that by removing stuff I didn't end up needing to remove. I eventually gave up and just drained the coolant with a bucket under the lower radiator hose and the water pump neck.
Second, the water pump had a bit of interference with my Holly metal timing chain cover. Before I installed the Holly cover last year I had heard of a few people running into this issue. I also read of other people not having an issue with the cover. I now know that the issue seems to be with the water pumps. My original pump fit just fine with the Holly cover, but this pump did not fit. I ended up taking off more material than the picture shows. I got it to fit and seal though!
I am glad I have the pump done. It significantly reduced the amount of squeak and eliminated the metal grinding sound. I still have a small squeak coming from the front so an idler pulley or tensioner maybe next. All in all the truck is running really well.
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