VR V8 Water Pump on way out?

[Vee-ard]

Lately she's been making a tickling/rattling noise, it only seems to be doing it when cold, as soon as the engine gets up to temp the sound disappears. Definitely isnt internal. Question is, is it the water pump on its way out or a bearing on one of the pulleys somewhere?

The clutch driven fan shaft has a slight bit of freeplay but the water pump pulley itself seems pretty solid (as far as I can tell, I havent taken the belt off yet) there arent any major signs of leaking from the pump either. What can I do now to eliminate one or the other so I know whether to replace the pump or not? Cheers guys.

[Brett_jjj]

Id remove the drive belt and spin all the pulleys and water pump,alternator etc by hand, and feel for roughness in the bearings,also spin them quickly and listen to each of them for dry, noisy bearings which is a good sign that the lubricant has dried out and they probably wont last much longer.Do the same with the water pump.Also check its shaft for end and sideways play. I just replaced the idler pulley bearings and tensioner pulley bearing on my VSV6.They were noisy and a bit rough when I checked them.They were around $8 each from a bearing place.If theres any doubt about the water pumps condition,and its done a couple of years service, its best to just replace it .They are a fairly cheap part to replace anyway.

[Vee-ard]

Id remove the drive belt and spin all the pulleys and water pump,alternator etc by hand and feel for roughness in the bearings,also spin them quickly and listen to each of them for dry, noisy bearings which is a good sign that the lubricant has dried out and they probably wont last much longer.Do the same with the water pump.Also check its shaft for end and sideways play. I just replaced the idler pulley bearings and tensioner pulley bearing on my VSV6.They were noisy and a bit rough when I checked them.They were around $8 each from a bearing place.

Thanks man I'll give it a shot.