Hey Everyone, I am new here but not new to celicas. I recently (a month ago) bought my celica from my friend. He had it overhauled 5K miles ago and it runs great.

My issue is this: the engine builder did not replace the water pump during the engine build, why? who knows. If you ask me that was stupid not to do. Anyway, I drove the car about 1K miles since I bought it and it runs excellent. Then I noticed the weep hole was wet with coolant so water pump needed replacement.

This is when I found out that the mechanic never replaced it because it was still the factory one! I also noticed that the t-belt was angled a bit from the failed water pump but it had no apparent damage and I checked it quite thoroughly (new belt).

Well I proceeded with the water pump replacement and it's all assembled. I checked the timing and it's perfect. Well the issue is this: the engine whines now and it didn't before. It kinda sounds like a weak supercharger. When I rev the engine the whine increases so it's timed with the t-belt I think. I then backed off the tension of the belt just a teeny little bit, the whine stopped but now it raps against the timing belt cover. I then tightened it again to make it stop rapping the t-belt cover. It whines again.

What is going on???? It runs great, I have full power, quick start up, no pinging under load, it runs perfect, just whines like a bastard.

replace the idler bearings too.

welcome to the site, nate.
sounds like you have a bad idler bearing.

where in MA are you?

Hey guys, that never crossed my mind. How sure are you guys on the idler bearing? I'm not trying to be a jerk or anything but at this point I just want to be as sure as possible it's not something else.


I'm out in Lee man! I see you're also in MA, is that your ride pictured under your name??

Quick edit - I'll be in New Hampshire until wednesday this week, that's where my car is getting worked on. I like the prices on parts over here too, I bought a new water pump for $38 and it's actually decent. I was surprised to see how much lighter it was inside compared to the much heavier factory one.

This post has been edited by MrNate: Nov 15, 2010 - 10:44 AM

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im not 100% sure, but chances are its one of the idler bearings.

not a fan of the non OEM pumps, the impellers are usually plastic (prolly why it feels lighter than oem) they never last as long as an OEM pump.

yea, the car in my sig is actually the wifeys car (i do all the work on it..lol)
Lee, huh? is that western MA? im in fall river..south coast.

Do you know if the idler bearings are something they would replace for a rebuild automatically or is it more by owner choice?

Makes sense why the water pump is lighter then.

Lee's pretty damn close to the NY border so I'm way out from the east coast but my buddy lives in NH so I am there sometimes. You guys ever meet up and just hang out?

That's a nice Celica man, you rally it or something?? Looks all hopped up too. You pushing forced induction though it?

Hi again, well I released the tension on the t-belt and checked the idler bearing by spinning the pulley. It didn't make any noise at all and spun smoothly. I put the belt back on and tightened the belt as described in the manual. It whined again after the car warmed up. I backed off the tension just a tiny little bit and it raps the belt cover at start up until it warms up.

Since my water pump bugged out and I replaced it, do you think I should just get a new t-belt again? It only has about 5K on it. Boggles my mind.

i wouldnt imagine the belt is the problem, but hey, you never know till ya see it happen...lol