Pump done, air eventually bled out, test drive uneventful. Will see tomorrow how many clamps need more cranking down.

Mention of water pumps has led me to resurrect this thread. Set off this morning for a run to Shropshire via Coventry. Got to Coventry, did what we needed to do and started out for Shropshire. Just get off the M6 onto the M54 and I felt and heard a clunk through the steering, initial thought was a tyre but then it beeped at me and a red picture of a battery appears on the dash followed by 3 more beeps and Alternator Fault. Went to pull over to the hard shoulder to realise I'd got no power steering either. Opened the bonnet expecting to see the shredded remains of the drive belt and it all looked fine except for coolant everywhere and a virtually empty reservoir. Couldn't see any split hoses so put water into the reservoir to see if I could see where it was coming out. Couldn't really see much other than what was already there so started the engine. Initially the belt was only turning a bit, then it started to turn properly and I got sprayed with coolant that was pouring out of the water pump and being flung off the back of the pulley. Decided that the hard shoulder of the M54 at 2 degrees in sleet wasn't an ideal place and, as the next exit was less than a mile up the road, I'd at least get it somewhere a bit safer so I could have a better look. Just off the motorway I saw a BP filling station so aimed for there but with 100m to go there was a loud clanking from under the bonnet followed by a loss of charge and power steering again.

Seems the water pump had seized causing the belt to slip over the pulleys so the alternator and PS pump weren't turning. After I stopped it had freed itself but the bearing obviously then broke up completely and threw the belt off. There is a good inch in and out movement on the pump shaft and about 20 degrees of side to side slop in it. There is obviously no bearing left at all. The AA supplied us with a hire car (they were very apologetic that they couldn't get me a Land Rover so I would have to put up with a brand new Zafira instead) so we could continue on to Shropshire and then back home while my car was put on a transporter with the promise that it will be home within 48 hours.

Now I've got a brand new Airtex water pump that I tacked onto my order for replacement badges and other odds when mine was being resprayed as the SE has a Britpart that the previous owner fitted and started leaking within 2,000 miles. Fortunately, or otherwise, it's been too cold for me to summon the enthusiasm to get out there and fit it so that can go on as soon as the car is back here. Or do I keep that one for the SE and get something else?

What concerns me most is the complete lack of warning. The pump was replaced when the engine was rebuilt so it's done around 40,000 miles and it was an OEM although I'm not sure what make (been through my past orders with Island and it didn't come from them so it was either LRDirect, Rimmers or Nene Overland (as they are local) and I don't seem able to check them). As I'd got a 350 mile round trip to do today I opened the bonnet yesterday to check fluids and top up the washer bottle. The coolant was sitting at it's usual level smack on the line so it isn't like it has been slowly leaking. Had it been leaking or making a noise I would have done something about it (or we'd have used Dina's Merc today) but the worrying thing is how it went with no warning at all. With the sort of journeys I do, something that isn't going to give me the slightest hint of impending failure isn't something I want. Just got to hope the impeller hasn't damaged the front cover or it's going to be a bit more than a couple of hours out there in the cold.

Woohoo! AA have just called. The car will be back here at around 11pm tonight and the weather forecast for tomorrow is dry and sunny. That probably means it'll be bloody cold by the evening when I get in from work but at least it'll be dry. Looks like the Airtex is going on, at least for the time being.

As you say Richard, strange there was no warning in terms of screeching or so, if it's the bearing. Or the impeller got stuck (how, by means of what?).
Try to resume when the pump is off, very curious about it.

The post mortem results on the pump will be interesting, although I imagine it'll be difficult to determine what broke first.

WC scenario: steel impeller got loose from the shaft and got stuck, given the play on the shaft Richard says. (oh oh, frontcover!).

Definitely a lot of slop and the clank at the beginning of the video would suggest the impeller is floating around in there no longer attached to anything.....

I believe the term for that is along the lines of 'fucked'

Reminded me to get my 10 month old pump returned for a replacement...

I always thought it was a technical term spelt phuqued, but yes. Trying to get as much work done as I can this morning so I can skive off a bit early and get stuck into pulling it off to see what horrors are lurking inside.

Shame you can't remember the manufacturer Gilbertd.
A little bit of play in the video! It does sound as if the impeller and shaft are no longer as one. Fingers crossed that's the case or I fear for the front cover.

OK, inside to thaw my fingers out before starting the delightful job of cleaning the old gasket off the front cover ready to fit the new pump. Surprisingly little damage considering. The front cover is marked but it has just kissed the surface and if I were to polish the surrounding area the marks would only just be visible.

The pump looks errm, interesting. It looks like when the bearing let go the first thing that happened was that the whole thing tried to move forwards so it was running with the impeller against the inside of the pump. What sort of bearing was in there and where it has gone I'd rather not think about. I didn't see any bits drop out when I pulled it off (but I am working outside with only a lead light dangling down inside the engine bay) and I can't feel anything loose down either of the waterways.

The pump has no markings on it at all, not even a casting mark, so unfortunately we don't know who made it.

Just getting the feeling back in my fingers now so I'll finish my coffee and get back on it........

Can't see much actual impact damage on water pump or cover. For the impeller blades to be that bent they should have hit something pretty solid.
Good luck with the gasket removal. I remember how much of a pain it was in the workshop in summer daylight. Outside on a winter's night with a lead lamp- I feel for you!

Looks like the seal assembly spun up, tried to walk forward and tore itself apart. Coolant everywhere suggests the seal was failing for a few miles. It takes a while to empty out a reservoir full through the weep hole at operating pressure. If a seal fails from wear in the usual manner you have plenty of time to fix but if it spins up or the body fractures it rips itself apart very quickly. Assuming seal is common style something like this : http://www.agcoauto.com/content/images/cooling/water_pump_cross_section.jpg there is a good chance the mating ring and seal bit are still on the pump shaft and the sheet metal body has just fractured at the back letting the spring and other innards work forwards over the primary seal.

Clive

Just back in after getting it all back together. Found two ball bearings laying on the ground underneath and two more where it was parked after being dropped off the AA transporter last night which I assume is what caused the clank when I wiggled it about to shoot the video this morning. There's a steel shield behind the crank pulley and I suspect what I heard was a ball bearing dropping onto that. You are probably right Clive, the whole thing has tried to walk forwards and the rest of the bearings are somewhere on the M54. There's no sign of leakage from the weep hole so it wasn't leaking for any length of time.

Gasket came off reasonably easily with brake cleaner spray, a Stanley knife blade and fine wet and dry to make sure the surface was clean. Glued the new gasket to the pump with Hylomar, another smear of Hylomar on the gasket and then bolted it on. It's probably taken me as long to refill the cooling system and get the air out than it did to change the pump. Nipped out earlier and went to Nene Overland, as they are local, and got a pump gasket (the one that came with the pump was in two bits where it had been in the bottom of the box with a water pump bouncing around on it) but they didn't have a serpentine belt in stock so I've put the used one I keep in the boot just in case on rather than the one that was on it. Picked up 5 litres of antifreeze too while I was out and put 4 litres or so in and topped up with a couple of litres of water so the concentration should be about right. I'll change the belt in the next couple of days and it'll be job done.

Looking closer at the picture it seems to me that after the bearing had walked out the fan pulled the shaft forward and the belt pulled the shaft up, noting the scratches arrowed.
The impeller turns (in this picture) clockwise, that way the blades are bent too. Just lucky there is no more damage to the frontcover.