308 Waterpump noise question

The last few times I have started my 308 when cold I have heard a distinct clicking/ticking sound coming from the engine bay. It does it every time without fail but as soon as the car warms up a little it is gone until it is stone cold again. The last time it did it I did a little poking around a put a scope to several parts. The waterpump sounded different than the other bearings I checked so I figured that my car was telling me that the pump was on its way out. Today I took everything apart and removed the pump only to find nothing wrong with it. It turns freely, and does not make a sound. I then took the pump apart and it looked BRAND NEW inside. The bearings were silent and the seals looked perfect with no evidence of weeping. Here are the details on the car:

- 1977 308GTB
- Newer style water pump with bigger bearings and plastic impellar
- Pump changed in 2000 with about 12K since the change (fairly regular driving and the car has not sat a lot)
- V-belts changed 2 years ago and I do not think that the noise I hear are the belts clicking

So my questions are:

1. Could it still be the pump?
2. After opening and re-closing the pump, is there any problems with putting it back in?

Any other input would be appreciated. I'd like to make a decision soon before spending money in the wrong direction.

 

If you didn't molest the seal you should be able to put it back in.

The sound you describe might be a belt noise or a slightly loose tappet.

 

I suppose you could try to disconnect one belt at a time and run it for a short while and see if the sound is still there ?
With a cold engine I guess you could disconnect the belt to the pump and run the it a few seconds without running the risk of overheating the engine, long enough to tell if the sound is gone ?
My experience is that various bearings sound audibly different anyway. It may not have been too unlikely that the water bearings sounded differently.
But who knows. I am really just learning this car myself (78 Euro 308), and had bearing noise from the water pump as well. But I heard irregular noises from the pump indicating bearing wear. Often worn out bearings in the water pump causes water to start leaking out the vent holes on the underside of the pump. I experienced this to not always be true, since mine had the internal cavity filled with grease. Not supposed to be that way. Anyway....

It'll be interesting to hear what you find.
Best of luck.
H

 

I have a noise on my 308 that I would describe exactly as you described yours. It started after an oil change, and I went from 10-40 to 20-50 for the summer. I believe that the clicking that I hear is the oil pressure relief valve. I have read several threads that suggest that this is one of the causes of clicking noises, along with belts. The pressure relief valve is right under the water pump.

Next oil change I'm going back lighter oil to see if it goes away as I suspect it will.

 

Thank you for the input guys. Just for the record, my pump has never weeped so much as a drop and the temperature has never been an issue with my car leading me to suspect that it is NOT the water pump. As such I think I'll just put it back in and see how it goes.

Unless someone has another bit of feedback/

 

I've had similar problem, which turned out to be the air conditioning compressor. Easy to verify by taking the belt off, seems to happen when the car hasn't been run for a while. Not sure what causes it, but my view is that as long as it's not in the engine, I'm not overly concerned (and the A/C still works)

M

 

Probably a/c or waterpump belt. Could be static discharge, but try some WD40 on the belts.

See also:
http://www.ferrarichat.com/forum/showthread.php?t=125708&highlight=static+discharge+belts

http://www.ferrarichat.com/forum/showthread.php?t=51419&highlight=static+discharge+belts

 

With my experience it's usually the valaves,

as the engine gets warmer the valve clearance get smaller.

 

I ran kendal 20-50,after I did my major srvice we switched to redline 5-30,now when the engine is cold and starts up I get a squell noise within in seconds its stops,it doesn't do it again till the next day or so when I drive it,I was told its the oigoing through the oil cooler and its building presure and its lighter than what I used b4? go figure

 

I have the same problem and one suggestion when I posted here was static build up on the belt. There is supposed to be a wire link connecting the compressor to the cam cover. In my case it was missing, probably from a cam belt change at some time. Although I replaced the wire the ticking still comes back from time to time. Not the answer to my noise but might be to your's.

Incidentally, I was warned about spraying stuff on the belt as any oil based substance could lead to premature belt failure. I've tried slightly soapy water and it does help, but only for a short time. Apparently there's a belt dressing material available but I don't know what its called. Once the car's been run for a while the noise goes away but when its there its quite worrying. My next attempt to isolate it is to remove the compressor belt but its not that straight forward so I haven't done it yet.

 

Assuming that the 308 has a tensioner for the water pump belt (as the 328) check the bearing on that tensioner. I had that problem before

 

I cant say for sure what your problem is but this is a common belt problem (ticking/snapping). Thin belts taking a set then snapping on startup. Dont run them to tight they prematurely ear out the wp.

Rob