Daughter telling me there's a squeal sometimes, mostly when it's cold. I've never heard it, my hearing is a bit, well~

Question: When a water pump goes out (Sidekick 1997 1.6L) do they leak or do they some times seize? What have  you seen?

Thank you

Richard

Leaking like hell!

Check your fan belts.  When the get loose they will start squealing in intermittently t first.  After the belts warm up they grip better and the sound goes away. 
It is tough having to listen to what others hear and then find the problem.  The new Generation of hearing aids do a much better job of improving ones hearing ability, but they still increase the noise and sounds you are missing at the same time.
In Washington workers comp can cover hearing aids if you are still working and loss is significant.  You might check your state comp., as the new ones are expensive.

on the subject of hearing aids.
Check with your local division of Vocational rehab services (in my state it is a state run agency) and see if they will help with the cost of hearing aids.
I was able to go thru them to get one. I only needed one.  It was a year long process/wait but the difference in what I can hear is amazing.  explore all avenues to get help.

Greetings guys, Forgive my coming back so late in the game but have been away from the computer.
I no longer work, well, for wages. Wife did buy a hearing aid of sorts, you know the Lee Marvin type, I put it on when I remember. Maybe I'll see if something is available to me. Thanks.

Thanks for the word on water pump failure.

Daughters and I traveled from Lake Tahoe area in California, into Nevada high desert, and they said it screamed all the way~aprox 80miles. I did check the belt, not this time, but on the last trip, to me the belt is tight enough~

I'll check it again.

I have another question, is there a pattern failure of a serpentine Pulley that could cause the wearing of the that is properly tightened.  Where the lands or grooves ware?

Thank you again

Richard

A thought just crossed my mind - how many bolts hold the alternator in place?

One of my Suzukis had two pivot bolts under the alternator, one on the adjustment stay - I lost one of the pivot bolts which caused the alternator to tilt slightly, and I had no ends of belt squeal issues until I found the issue.

Greetings and Thank you guy, and again it's been a while since I've been by this way.  We've gotten 3 horses, the girls have, in that time.

Anyway, daughters and I, returning from the mountains the battery went dead or flat as the Ozies might say.  I of course had no meter with me, Damn it, we were in Carson City at the time . I put the charger on and this morning the battery had a full charge. The belt was tight and the alternator is putting out enough to keep the reading at the battery at 12.18 volts with the heater, radio, lights and wipers on. I loosened the belt and can see it had/has been slipping, but in my judgement it was tight.

The waterpump seem good, when turned by hand the bearings feel good, and of course it isn't leaking.
I may replace the pump to satisfy wife,~~that will put a new pulley in place~ this is in case that pulley had worn, the groves excessively, leaving the land standing like knives, damaging the pelt and being the reason for the squeal, that has been there at times( ever seen such a thing happen). 
Wife is convinced that wet weather is The major contributor, to like, a pattern failure.  Possible!
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I miss the V Belts
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The car has run fine from February 16th till last evening a little over two months.

Like to hear what you guys think.

And have you ever added a ground wire from the Alternator case to the body or frame?

Thanks

Richard

I know nothing about how the water pump on a 1.6 is set up.  I say this because I now have a 2.5 V 6 and the pump is sort of internal and  I will learn I am sure.  On traditional / typical water pumps (I used to work for a company that made water pump bearings) what fails first is the seals and they start leaking coolant.  There is a weep hole to try to keep the coolant out of the bearing itself but as things progress the coolant washes out the grease and then the bearing fails and things go south from there in a hurry.  I am old enough to have grown up with cast iron heads and you could recover from overheating.  With Aluminum heads I am not sure you can shut it down fast enough to prevent damage... namely the need to buy a new head(s).  Do not believe shops that claim they can surface the head.  The head will work like an inch worm every time you drive and every 10K (or less) you will need a head gasket until you replace the head.  Because I am poor and can not afford repairs I change coolant every other year and pay close attention to belts, hoses and drips.

sidekickyc - the old vee belts can't handle the power requirements of todays electrical systems, hence the newer multi-rib or multi-vee designs - these have more surface area.  In my experience the replacement pumps don't come with the pulley, so you may have to get that separately, and it'll be way easier to just swap the pulley, leaving the pump in place.

tiopick - the V6 water pump is nothing but a pain where you sit - the inline fours have "external" pumps, on the 1.6 it sits partially behind the timing cover and you have to remove the timing belt to get at it, the 2.0 has it on the side of the block, makes it a lot easier.

Regarding the cast iron/aluminum heads - like you I grew up with cast iron, but, in my experience whether or not the aluminum heads will survive an overheat depends on how alert the driver is - I've had top hose & water pump failures on both cast iron block/aluminum head and all aluminum engines and they survived just fine.