i have a 98 4wd 5.2 SFI V8 magnum durango

recently (Fall 2010) i changed the water pump (pain in the rear, special tools tight space etc)

after installing the pump and replacing the idler pulley there was a terrible squeaking coming from the front, this happened at idle and increased with throttle
finally isolated the squeak at the a/c clutch/bearing
we bypassed the ac using a shorter belt

however within the last week it has started to squeak with the exact same noise, at idle and throttle and we cannot isolate it

checked the belt it is fine tightened the idler pulley and that is fine

i don't think its the alternator as the noise doesn't seem to be coming from there

but cannot tell if its from the power-steering pump, water pump, fan clutch, or crank shaft pulley

what options/checks should i do? what tools might i need? is it worth taking it to a mechanic or dealer?

 

I and my crew at my shop use a very old school technique to isolate a noise. Use a straw or 1/2" or less tubing and stick it to your ear and cover the other eat. Using this method you should be able to isolate the area the squeak is coming from.

After doing this let us know where it's coming from (ie. the pulley or motor or power steering pump) so we can further assess the squeak.

 

I have a stethoscope now but used to do the same thing with a screwdriver. It works

 

stethoscope is one of the best tools i got

 

I had the same problem...
the water pump you put on was a remanufactured pump... right??
I had to replace mine with a brand new one and the problem went away... took me forever to realize it was the pump, I replaced the tensioner, replaced the belt a few times, just to find out that the parts store sold me a **** pump..
check out http://www.rockauto.com That's where I got my new pump.. Although anywhere will work and more power to ya if you find a cheaper one.. (i went with the pricey bosch one)

 

Did you replace the belt recently? I had a squeal after replacing a bad water pump, idler pulley, belt, and tensioner pulley. The belt was the culprit. It was a cheapo from Advance. replaced it with a Dayco... Squeal gone.

 

Have you looked at the tensioner pulley?


Next thing you can do is take off the belt and turn each bearing to isolate a bad one. If you can't figure out by turning each and every pulley by hand then lubricate each bearing manually and assemble the belt, start the engine and see if it goes away, if it does then there is your issue.

 

looked at the tensioner pulley, its not coming from there.

the noise is narrowed to either the water pump or crankshaft pulley

i'm pretty certain its the water pump, as i have anti freeze leaking everywhere.

took it in to a shop today and having it replaced, also replacing the ac compressor, as that was the original squeak.

will let you all know what the end result is

 

If you had coolant all over then most likely the issue was a bad bearing that took out the seal on the main shaft of the water pump, and that bearing is most likely the issue. There is a wheep hole in the front of the water pump bearing that when either the seal or bearing goes out it will leak from. Also replace the lower and upper radiator hoses while he has it off.

 

Right well heres what happened

the mechanic said the water pump was fine and that the thermostat gasket was leaking as well as one of the hoses in the back so i had them change the thermostat and gasket as well.
leak stopped BUT squeak was there but not as bad as before, however i had a family emergency and had to drive it over 500miles this weekend
took it back in today
heres what they found
the belt (old one i had saved after by passing the a/c) i told them to use after changing the a/c compressor was the culprit but probably a combination of the leaking thermostat gasket

on another side note: NEVER USE RADIATOR STOP LEAK
i used that **** weeks ago thinking it would stop what seemed like a small coolant leak that i couldn't locate
well it caused problems with my heater core, all weekend i got no heat coming through the vents (blower was working fine)
they flushed the core for me and ta frickin da i got heat again.
thanks for the advice guys, i know you can only go by the info i put up but it still gave me things to think about. i have learn't a lot about my durango as a result

will be putting up a few threads in the future with what ever issues i may have

thank you