What I thought I had was a water pump bearing going out because of the tell-tale squeak, but as it turned out, all it was was a slick/worn out fan belt that ran from the air-con to the engine pulley. Just for grins, I sprayed some belt dressing on the belt, and Walllllahhh. The squeak stopped. After replacing the belt, we are back to a sqeakless engine bay. Just thought I would share that tidbit of info so you guys don't start tearing into the front of your engines to replace a perfectly good water pump.

 

Good advice. I once changed out what I thought was a bad/squeeky water pump only to have the altenator cease up when i restarted the engine. Make sure before you start spending money!

 

Good tip. One thing that I always do with my vehicles is to add a small bottle of water pump lube and anti rust to the coolant system. It is a common product made by Prestone, Pennzoil etc... and readily available at any major parts store and it's cheap too. I have never replaced a water pump when using this stuff religiously. It looks like hell going in but it really works. Just a thought and I hope it helps, Dean ................ NOW , someone tell me what that ram air base fits that I asked about before I pull my last hair out .

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I looked at that air cleaner and i ain't got a clue what that fits

 

I can't help you with that Ram thing, but if you run a good quality anti-freeze/water combo, you don't need to add anything to the coolant to lubricate the water pump. The additives are just snake oil.

 

I've been starting up my 66 I6 once every four weeks this winter and I got the squeak going after about 10 minutes last time. Any way to check whether it's water pump versus alternator bearing?

It only does it for 10 seconds or so once every minute. Water pump seems likely culprit since I did two significant chemical flushes in the fall and replaced what looked like pretty old antifreeze (got the car in June). With all the clear water rinses, it could have stressed the pump. No sign of leakage yet at the shaft or weephole, however. No other pulleys involved on this simple car. I've got belt dressing; I can try that, too.

 

You might take a quick gander at the belt alignment. If it's a little out of line, it may make a similar noise. Good luck, Dean

 

The alternator does appear to sit slightly farther back than the water pump. I didn't worry about it since all was functioning okay throughout the summer, and my brother's falcon looked like that back in the day (same 200 cid). It's probably time to figure out a way to get the pulleys lined up before it does stress bearings or bushings.