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L6 water pump confusion / disaster


82boxima

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If I posted this in the wrong section, feel free to move it around however appropriate......

 

ok, so I'm going down the highway, in my 82' maxima (L24E+ auto trans) cruise control set at 75 mph, heater on, radio blaring, all the guages looking good, within normal etc etc

I start to hear something like bearing whine for about TWO SECONDS, and then, BOOOM happened. volt gauge PEGGED all the way DOWN, warning lights flashing on and off all over the dash, temp gauge going up, loss of power. so i pull off the next exit in neutral, trying to coast my 75 MPH roll into this truck stop. it actually would CRAWL under it's own power into a parking spot. cut the motor off, pop the hood, my alternator / water pump belt (well pieces of it) are laying limp on top of the valve-cover icon_eek.gif and coolant is spurting out of the resevoir and dripping on the ground from an unknown source icon_eek.gif keep in mind, this JUST happened tonight at like 1 AM, I didn't get a chance to look at it really good, it was dark, I just jump-started it and drove it up onto my friend's trailer to get it home. so I 'm pretty sure I didn't damage any engine internals, sounded ok getting it up on to the trailer (what a live saver for coming to help me at 1 AM ON A WEDNESDAY NIGHT / THURSDAY MORNING icon_mrgreen.gificon_thumbsup.gif ! I'm a cheap MOFO and don't have roadside assistance on my insurance, this will be changed soon though, trust me)

 

my first thought are:

A: I just replaced the alternator and belt >700 miles ago, maybe I installed it incorrectly / wrong amount of tension and it threw the belt, rupturing the lower radiator hose? I'm pretty sure I did that right though...

B: the seals on the water pump were shot, water [coolant] got to the bearings and eventually made it seize, causing it to throw the belt?

C: I have the wrong thermostat in it, causing it to stay closed when it should of been open, the temperatures here have dropped pretty good since the time I put a new one in it, and it was running at a normal temp according to the gauge when this disaster happened, so could there be enough built up pressure to find a release @ the water pump?

D: combination of the above?

 

 

E: what could have caused this?

F: what's the compatibility with other L-series motor's water pumps?

 

BONUS POINTS: if anyone has a good water pump they wanna send my way on the cheap / free, I'd apreciate it icon_mrgreen.gif

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I went and got ALL THREE belts to put back on, I had previously removed the A/C belt awhile ago, and I think that caused the crankshaft pully / balancer to become off balance, making it throw the belts lastnite...

 

does this make sense? seems like if I just put all three back on, it would be better balanced and not throw these belts... and the water pump is fine, with the belt off, it turned by hand nice and smooth, no play in it, doesn't appear to be leaking.... and the belt did puncture the lower radiator hose, so that's what was making it hot.....

 

is there anything else I need to check when putting these belts / hoses back on? I was thinking about maybe taking the C/S pulley off and checking all the individual grooves to take sure they are all lined up correctly... other than that, all I gotta do is top off with coolant, hook up the new belts, and see what it does....... thoughts?

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I went and got ALL THREE belts to put back on, I had previously removed the A/C belt awhile ago, and I think that caused the crankshaft pully / balancer to become off balance, making it throw the belts lastnite...

 

does this make sense? seems like if I just put all three back on, it would be better balanced and not throw these belts... and the water pump is fine, with the belt off, it turned by hand nice and smooth, no play in it, doesn't appear to be leaking.... and the belt did puncture the lower radiator hose, so that's what was making it hot.....

 

is there anything else I need to check when putting these belts / hoses back on? I was thinking about maybe taking the C/S pulley off and checking all the individual grooves to take sure they are all lined up correctly... other than that, all I gotta do is top off with coolant, hook up the new belts, and see what it does....... thoughts?

 

 

Are you running an air injection pump? This may have siezed up too. Not running all the belts would not throw the crankshaft pulley "off balance". What has likely happened is that you didn't get the alternator lined up well. The pulleys all need to be within an 1/8" or so of each other to keep the belt from getting too hot and breaking apart...

 

Good Luck!

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Are you running an air injection pump? This may have siezed up too. Not running all the belts would not throw the crankshaft pulley "off balance". What has likely happened is that you didn't get the alternator lined up well. The pulleys all need to be within an 1/8" or so of each other to keep the belt from getting too hot and breaking apart...

 

Good Luck!

 

ah, this is making alot sense right now. no, I don't think it is running an air injection pump, does that also mean, a smog pump? the only things it has on the belt assembly is the C/S pulley, powersteering, A/C compressor, alternator, and water pump (and associated tensioner pulleys). what you said about the pulleys have to be lined so within an 1/8th in. tolerance, that is probly the problem, I didn't check for that when installing my new alternator last month, NOOB error for sure, I just made sure the belt was snugged up to the propper tension. I'm about go outside and go through the whole belt assembly and double check the alignment of all the pulleys. and besides, I got $50 worth of belts to put back on:shock: thanks a bunch! :mrgreen:

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