Could the squeak be my water pump pulley?

https://youtu.be/qshghV0Icrc

I am having a devil of a time tracking down a squeak in my engine that is getting worse. It's actually worse now than this video.

I was hit head-on by a drive-away drunk and left with $13k damage. (attached image)

The bumper was pretty well V-shaped, the radiators had to be replaced.

Could an impact on the fan shaft damage the water pump pulley or the water pump itself?

There was no squeak in any of the pulleys out of the body shop, but the squeak developed over time. There was also a rattle in the tensioner pulley that has since gotten fairly bad.

I am going to be replacing the crankshaft pulley due to some wobbly asymmetry there. But I don't think the crank pulley can squeak because I don't think it has a bearing, right? So something else is at fault. All the pulleys seem smooth when I spin them by hand with the belt off.

Could there be something underneath the fan shaft / water pump pulley that is squeaking?

I am concerned that this thing could fail in the next week or so if I keep driving it without fixing it. But I'm having trouble zeroing in on it.

Thanks for any insights.

 

Water pump bearing can squeak but they usually will have a wobble as well. It wouldn't hurt to change the water pump anyways. They are a cheap maintenance item and also a coolant flush as well. The chirp I hear sounds like a tensioner or idler bearing. Do you feel any resistance to any of the bearings at all even a little?

 

Sometimes the rubber in the balancer can separate. The grooved pulley can "walk" off the end of the crank and drag the belt out of alignment, often resulting in a belt squeal

 

after that hit, I would replace the pump if the fan hit the radiator at all

 

All of the berrings feel smooth and solid except for one of the idlers that has a very slight loosness ... tap it with my finger and it makes a little metalic clack. But none of them feel grindy or loose in rotation.

 

I would change that idler and go from there

 

Pulley at bottom left doesn't look very smooth.

 

Thanks, that's the Crankshaft Pulley. I'm working on replacing it as soon as I can figure out a way to get the damned crank nut loosened. Best plan now: rent an impact wrench. Hopefully there will be enough clearance to get it in there.

I don't believe that one would be the cause of the chirping though because I don't think it has a bearing. But it could be the cause of the chattering of the tensioner pulley.

There is chirping, chattering, and wobbling ... I think the latter two symptoms are related and so I think I've got a total of two problems to fix.

 

Highly recommended you not to drive your Taco, could lead to more serious problem.

 

Hmm, can you elaborate?

 

If the squeak is getting louder. Body Shop already fixed your front end?

 

Yeah, it's been about 6 months since I got the truck back from the body shop. Initially there was no pulley squeak but there was a slight rattling that an independent mechanic could not hear or immediately diagnose. Eventually over the past two months the rattling has become pronounced like in the video and I've identified the sound as the tensioner pulley, possibly chattering against it's stop. That pulley itself seems solid and smooth. Also, something else in there started chirping and that has gotten progressively worse over the past two months.

 

most crank bolts come off easy when you crank the starter and rest tool against frame, check rotation before trying

or put in a wedge in the flywheel teeth

 

Yeah, I saw that technique in a video. It seems dangerous though? There are some metalic coolant lines down there that could be impacted if the breaker bar slams them.

How prone to mishaps is that technique?

 

if you are that worried about doing it, maybe you should take it to someone that's knows what they are doing to teach you

I would offer but don't know where you live

 

OK, so a guy at the parts shop suggested that if you spin the idler / tensioner pulleys and they spin for a while, then they are too loose inside and may be the candidate for the chirping/squeaking that I am hearing.

Well, the tensioner pulley does just that.... spins a bunch of rotations before stopping. It's not grindy or noisy at all. Smooth spinning.

Is that a viable diagnostic technique for tracking down bad bearings?