Thread: need a little help diagnosing a waterpump possibly more

okay recently i started the car and it sounded like a groaning/scratching coming from the passenger side. it was present through all rpm ranges. Today i pulled the serpentine belt and checked all the pulleys. when i held my hands at 6 and 12 o clock, there is a little play in the pulley. I also removed my coolant reservoir to loosen the tensioner for the belt and there is no coolant in there. The whole passenger side is wet including a coil pack. i think it is coolant... it has to be. i also noticed dampness below the lim almost as it is leaking, but i have yet to see it leak from there. I know about the elbows but they seem good still. I randomly got a code for p0304, cylinder 4 misfire. I cleared the code and it never came back. I took off the oil spout on the valve cover and there was moisture on it.. not coolant, but water almost like condensation. I also pulled the dipstick and it looks normal, light brown and not milky.

I have not checked the plugs for coolant or checked the radiator for bubbles. Does this sound like possibly a leaking lim or a head gasket. Also does the water pump sound like it needs replaced?

Chris

you probably want to do a search about gm 3800 coolant elbows.

could be water pump,could be coolant elbows,could be both.

thats more than likely your solution

both are relatively simple repairs.

If the pulley on the waterpump has any play at all then I'd suggest replacing it, easy job just like spazzz said, I just did mine this last Sunday. My pulley started making noises/developed some play a bit before it went bad. Funny thing is that it started leaking out of the weep hole, and then stopped once it got really bad. This past two weeks my 05 GP was starting to get too hot for my liking, and if I idled long enough, or especially in slow stop and go traffic, my temp gauge would get awfully close to the warning chunk of the gauge.

If you do, make sure to use threadlocker on the 4 long bolts, or coolant will seep out of them.