No heat / water pump / Underdrive pulleys.

[Meteorite]

It's a bit of a long story. I perused the other posts that had anything to do with overheating or no heat or water pumps. My case seems slightly different. Here's the history:

(1) Summer 2006 -- Installed Steeda Underdrive pulleys. Had to take the de-gas bottle off to do that. Neglected to burp the cooling system.

(2) Weather got cold ... no heat after driving 12-15 minutes. Even after it came on, it would seem very hot but would cut out at idle. I chalked that up to the water pump turning slower because of the U/D pulleys. ALSO, only a few times, the temperature gauge went up about 3/4 of the way to H, which it never had done before. Each time, though, it quickly returned to halfway. I suspected a sticking thermostat.

(3) Logged on to MM.net ... saw that I had to burp the cooling system. Did so. There was a lot of air in there. I thought that had fixed it, but within 3-4 days the symptom (no heat or delayed heat) reappeared.

(4) Took it to the L-M dealer, who said it was not a thermostat, it was the air-temperature control system. This made sense to me, since the hose going into the firewall was very hot, and the one coming out was cold.

(5) Car okay for a while, but then symptom reappeared AGAIN.

(6) Took it back in to L-M dealership. Now they say it is definitely the water pump (covered under Warranty). They say it is making a pretty bad noise.

So, a couple of questions:

(A) Has anyone else had a water pump fail? How about after installing U/D pulleys?

(B) When the water pump fails, does the impeller actually fail to push the water any more? Or is it just loud due to the bearings going bad?

(C) Has anyone who lives in a cold climate installed the U/D pulleys with no degradation in the heater performance?

[fastblackmerc]

It's a bit of a long story. I perused the other posts that had anything to do with overheating or no heat or water pumps. My case seems slightly different. Here's the history:

(1) Summer 2006 -- Installed Steeda Underdrive pulleys. Had to take the de-gas bottle off to do that. Neglected to burp the cooling system.

(2) Weather got cold ... no heat after driving 12-15 minutes. Even after it came on, it would seem very hot but would cut out at idle. I chalked that up to the water pump turning slower because of the U/D pulleys. ALSO, only a few times, the temperature gauge went up about 3/4 of the way to H, which it never had done before. Each time, though, it quickly returned to halfway. I suspected a sticking thermostat.

(3) Logged on to MM.net ... saw that I had to burp the cooling system. Did so. There was a lot of air in there. I thought that had fixed it, but within 3-4 days the symptom (no heat or delayed heat) reappeared.

(4) Took it to the L-M dealer, who said it was not a thermostat, it was the air-temperature control system. This made sense to me, since the hose going into the firewall was very hot, and the one coming out was cold.

(5) Car okay for a while, but then symptom reappeared AGAIN.

(6) Took it back in to L-M dealership. Now they say it is definitely the water pump (covered under Warranty). They say it is making a pretty bad noise.

So, a couple of questions:

(A) Has anyone else had a water pump fail? How about after installing U/D pulleys?

Usually when water pumps fail it's because a seal is bad causing a leak. I've had my Steeda's on for a couple of years with no problems.

(B) When the water pump fails, does the impeller actually fail to push the water any more? Or is it just loud due to the bearings going bad?

I would think the water pump would last longer since it's turning less with the UD installed. If the bearing fails it could make some noise.

(C) Has anyone who lives in a cold climate installed the U/D pulleys with no degradation in the heater performance?

Is NC cold enough?

See above^^^^^^^^^

[Breadfan]

I think you probably still had air in the system. The reason the coolant lines were hot going into the firewall and cold going out could indicate the air was trapped around the heater core.

If the waterpump was noisy that could mean bad bearings, unless somehow the impelller had sheared off and was just rattling around but not flowing water...

Sounds to me like it was still an air-in-system problem.

You think our cars are bad...I did radiator hoses during a basic tuneup on my grandparents Subaru Legacy, air got trapped in the system and after keeping it overnight trying to burp it several times the only way I could do it was burb the system at 4 different angles - I'd just park the car facing down hill, facing up hill, left side facing down, right side facing down, and that finally got all the air out. On that one, none of the normal tactics seemed to do the trick...

I'd imagine you get air in a tough spot it may require several burb sessions to fully clear out the air.

[BruteForce]

Mine is at the dealer as I type this having the water pump (Meziere Electric) replaced. They told me that I didn't have proper heat due to the leaking pump which is what was adding air to the cooling system. I do have a small puddle in the garage so I took their word for it.

I will have the "bad" pump checked to see if it indeed has a leak since it has so few miles on it. Its 2 years old but has less than 7K miles on it.

[jabo731]

As far as your underdrive pulley questions concern, I don't drive my car much in the winter but when ever I do I get heat. I've had underdrives for 3 years.

[Blackened300a]

U/D Pullies were one of my first mods and I never had a issue with heat.
I also didnt have to remove the coolant reservoir. If you un-bolt it, you can slide it over to the side and remove the shroud without disturbing the coolant.

[MERCMAN]

^^^^^ditto^^^^ No Heat problems^^

If one can catagorize a carmaker, Ford has ALWAYS had heaters that would run you out of the car!!

[prchrman]

My water pump went out at about 20,000 miles...never made noise...never leaked fluid...just would not circulate coolant and the car ran hot...heater did quit working also...willie

[jerrym3]

Back in the 50s, it was the Oldsmobiles that had heaters hot enough to cook bacon, or so it seemed.

In a 2 year period from 1960 to 1962, I owned a 53 Ford, 55 Ford Sunliner, 54 Olds 88 (standard column shift/very rare), 57 Olds 98, and a 57 Chevy BelAir in that order.

The heaters on those Olds was something else.

On a side note, the rarest car that I ever had the chance to drive (from North Jersey to Auburn, NY for delivery to a used car lot; NY Thruway all the way) was a 1962 Olds Super 88, 2 dr hardtop, maroon/white painted top, with a three speed column shift. Fast, but there was no way in heck that you could speed shift that car without grinding gears.

[Meteorite]

My water pump went out at about 20,000 miles...never made noise...never leaked fluid...just would not circulate coolant and the car ran hot...heater did quit working also...willie

Thanks! Of all the people I've seen post on related topics, your symptons sound the closest to mine.

As to the noise, I definitely did not hear it while driving the car. I think the mechanics used one of those stethoscope thingies under the hood to hear it.