I gave up on the stethescope as I was hearing nothing wrong through it. I pulled the belt and checked each pulley.

The airpump, alternator, idler, fan, AC and tensioner pulleys all spun freely and had no play fore and aft, nor any up and down (radial) play.

The tandem pump had .015 play fore and aft but no radial play. It spins pretty smoothly but not too freely as it would be pumping fluid as it spins.

The waterpump had no fore and aft play but the pulley did move up and down. It was dark so I could not find a way to mount my dial indicator to measure it. It spun less freely than the tandem pump.

I have never had a waterpump bearing go bad by itself before. They have always started leaking out of the weep hole before the bearing went. But there is always a first time. Maybe it is weeping and I cannot see it behind the pulley. I am losing no coolant though.

Given that none of the other pulleys had any radial play I am ready to conclude that it is the waterpump.

Could someone more experienced than I give an opinion and/or experience? I would surely appreciate it.

Thanks and Regards

__________________
Tim Benner

00 ML320 170K
95 E320 wgn 160K