St1100 engine noise when idling when hot

sosdingle · Mar 18, 2017

Hello again everybody.
I removed the waterpump today.
Yes indeed, it appears this is where the problem is.
When I turn it slowly, I can hear a little squeal.
I will source a replacement pump shortly and I will be good to go.
Also thanks for the info regarding belt tension. I will bear this in mind when I am putting everything back together.
Thanks again for all your input.

Al st1100 · Mar 19, 2017

John OoSTerhuis said:
N.B. - the ST1100 timing belt does not run under tension. Follow the final step in the Honda Service Manual carefully when locking that pulley/bearing down.

John

YES !! Google timing belt whine after replacement. Seems there are lots of concerns and some may be related to the timing belt and or over tightened

Al st1100 · Mar 19, 2017

sosdingle said:
Hello again everybody.
I removed the waterpump today.
Yes indeed, it appears this is where the problem is.
When I turn it slowly, I can hear a little squeal.
I will source a replacement pump shortly and I will be good to go.
Also thanks for the info regarding belt tension. I will bear this in mind when I am putting everything back together.
Thanks again for all your input.

Google timing belt whine after replacement. Seems there are lots of concerns and some may be related to the timing belt and or over tightened. Also may be completely normal. The slight squeal you hear from the water pump may also be normal because of the seal design. You did not have that noise before the belt was replaced, what could cause the pump to go bad just sitting there? Make sure the new pump does not have the same squeal.

dwalby · Mar 19, 2017

Al st1100 said:
You did not have that noise before the belt was replaced, what could cause the pump to go bad just sitting there?

the squeal apparently started a couple months after doing the belt replacement, not immediately after. He did the belt last summer, and has since put a few thousand miles on it.

sosdingle · Mar 19, 2017

dwalby said:
the squeal apparently started a couple months after doing the belt replacement, not immediately after. He did the belt last summer, and has since put a few thousand miles on it.[/QUOTE

Ok, just to clarify. This continuous whine at idle when hot only started recently. And yes it is several thousand miles after the timing belt, idler and tensioner were replaced. I did actually have a suspicion before the belt was done last summer that something wasn't quite right at that time. For the simple reason that when I switched the bike off the engine made a click and a little squeak. I wasn't sure if this was normal . I thought that replacing the parts mentioned above might eliminate that little squeak, which it didn't. I presume that was only the beginning of my recent issue. Those are the facts of the matter and I can only hope that the replacement waterpump will be the end of it. I won't have the pump for a week or so. When I'm up and running I will update here with the result.
So many different opinions to take on board. Really interesting.
Thanks all.

sterjll · Mar 19, 2017

I have had the same whine on my 91 for the last 48k miles after I replaced the belt and bearings. I also thought the water pump was at fault, so I replaced it and still have the whine. John's idea that there is tension on the belt - and pulleys - makes some sense. When you put your belt back on make sure to follow the tension instructions.

sosdingle · Mar 20, 2017

sterjll said:
I have had the same whine on my 91 for the last 48k miles after I replaced the belt and bearings. I also thought the water pump was at fault, so I replaced it and still have the whine. John's idea that there is tension on the belt - and pulleys - makes some sense. When you put your belt back on make sure to follow the tension instructions.

Yes, thank you, I will pay attention to the belt tension.

sosdingle · Mar 24, 2017

Hello again everybody.
Ok , I replaced the waterpump today and problem solved. No more whining at idle when hot . Also the little squeak it used to make as it was being switched off is gone. Thanks everybody for your help. Unfortunately a new issue has appeared. Nothing to do with my previous problem. I have spotted another thread with a similar problem. I have just added my info there. But the more I think about it, I think I will start a new thread because even though my problem is similar,there are some differences. Thanks again.
Regards
Seamus

dwalby · Mar 24, 2017

glad to see you got your water pump problem solved, good luck with the new problem.

John OoSTerhuis · Mar 24, 2017

Thanks for the follow up. Always appreciated.

John

DeanR · Mar 24, 2017

sosdingle said:
I replaced the waterpump today and problem solved.

Good job... Did you find a 91 water pump?

sosdingle · Mar 25, 2017

DeanR said:
Good job... Did you find a 91 water pump?

Thanks.
Yes, I was lucky to find a good second hand one that had come off a low mileage bike. (So I was told).
Solved that problem perfectly. I took a bit of a chance with the secondhand one. Hopefully it will last a decent length of time. If it starts to give trouble in the future I will probably get a bearing and seal kit for the old one, which I am holding on to just in case. I have since spotted the kit on eBay. It gives instructions on how to fit the kit. I presume it is a successful job as there have been a lot sold. I didn't try to get a brand new pump. I don't even know if they can be got. If they can , they would probably be crazy expensive.

St1100 engine noise when idling when hot

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