Are the water pumps in the G's known for having a short life? My 03 has been making some horrible squealing sounds and i have pretty much narrowed it down to the water pump pulley, although I'm not totally positive. I can spray the area (pulley/belt) and the noise will disappear, but will come back within a day or just after a few miles. I've tried to search the forum, but didn't find much, so it must not be a common issue. I'm afraid to see what it's going to cost. Any idea?

 

If in doubt, take it to the dealer for an estimate.

 

Considering the water pump is chain driven by the timing chain and is encased behind the front cover, some other belt is squeaking.

Have you tried tightening the belts? If you have the original belts, you should probably go ahead and replace them.

Here is a DIY belt change. https://g35driver.com/forums/engine-drivetrain-forced-induction-diy/117355-diy-power-steering-alternator-air-conditioning-belt-change.html

 

This is good news because when I sprayed the belt and pulley area, it immediately stopped. I would think since the pump is encased that it wouldn't stop making noise so quickly. Thanks for the link... from the looks of things, it may be a bad pulley (lower right side). The belts were replaced at 50k and it's now at 72k miles.

 

Sounds like you just need to tighten or replace your belts. If you do one, just do them both at the same time.

 

If you sprayed the belt with belt dressing, then you're going to have to replace the belt now. The belts on our cars are not designed for belt dressing and you may have increased the chances for belt slippage. The sound you were hearing was simply a slightly loose belt. A bad bearing makes an entirely different sound.

 

wonderful... I guess I'll order a new belt and attempt to tighten it and it hope it solves the problem. I'm curious what causes the squealing sound when a belt is loose?

 

It's just the nature of late model accessory belt design. If they're just fractionally loose, they can squeel like a stuck pig. Luckily changing a belt on our cars is pretty easy. Make sure to carefully read the DIY. The process is simple, but not following it correctly could lead to a broken tensioner.

 

For recommendation of a replacement accessory belt, I highly suggest the Goodyear Gatorback belts. They can be found at your local Autozone or Advance Auto Parts store for around $50. These belts are an excellent replacement for the OEM, not to mention cheaper as well. You're gonna need 2 belts, a small one and a large one.

 

according to some of the infiniti/nissan sites, the oem belts are much cheaper than $50. I have found them for around $15 and $13 on a few sites. I think I'll just stick with oem for that price.

 

We have sold ONE water pump for the VQ35DE motor...

It was to someone doing an engine rebuild from a junk yard... Just to be safe...

Never had one in for warranty or shop work...

That might tell you something...

OEM belts to forum members are $30 Shipped from us...

 

Just my luck. I took my 2003 Coupe in Saturday for the 75,000 mile service and had them check for a problem I was having problems with my heater. It was putting out cold air and hot air intermittently.

I have always had it serviced every 3000 miles and always at the same dealer. These guys have always been straight up with me and always go out of their way to help me, loaner cars, coupons, etc. (Of course at the prices they charge they are making a small fortune off me.)

Anyhoo, after a few hours they call me and say they checked everything over and that my water pump has a small leak. I go back to the dealer and they show me where it’s leaking.

The kicker is they want $640 to replace it. WOW! The only good news is that they have a $100 coupon I can use and I can leave my car there and use the loaner while they order the pump and install it.

 

$640 for the water pump replacement! That is rape...

I would DIY or take it to another shop.

 

Yes, and from my experience, when you spray and the squeak goes away, it comes back even louder once you've fouled the belt and pulley. Be sure to clean your pulley before putting a new belt on, use brake cleaner, that works great at ridding the pulley of the grunge.
Besides, replacing a belt on a 5 or 6 year old car is to be expected, actually, if it's the original, that's a good life for a belt, even if the mileage is low, the rubber tends to dry out and check.
I don't know about that, it looks like it's quite a job to change the water pump on a VQ, or most any other car these days, lot's of stuff has to be removed.