Drive train and cooling system problems

["Ed Garbade" <edgarbade@xxxx>]

Wanted some input from the group so I don't go off on a tangent. Will start 
with recent repairs.

Basically I am on a guest to replace all the deteriorating rubber on my car. 
Decided to replace the cooling hoses first since they were so bad 
(replaced the radiator too). Accidentally spilled some antifreeze on the 
water pump and it made something like a rattle noise when I restarted. This 
soon went away so I assumed it was the fluid on the various belts burning 
off.

In addition to the radiator work I relocated my throttle cover plate so it 
was actually over the throttle (yes the previous owner had it on the wrong 
side and it was a source of great humor when I went to meet some fellow D 
owners at Biltmore, NC last summer). A possible problem here is the air 
intake system had obviously been disassembled by a previous owner since it 
was re-sealed with some type of paste vs. an o-ring. When relocating the 
cover plate I did pull out some of this sealant in the process 
removing/replacing the bolts that held the plate in place (possible vacuum 
leak?).

Drove the care on a 250 mile short trip this past weekend and everything was 
fine. Engine temp stays just below the lower hash mark (any idea what the 
actual temp of that mark is?) and it performed well. If I had created a 
vacuum leak I assume it would have showed up on this trip but didn't notice 
anything.

Yesterday morning the rattle noise returned with the addition of an 
occasional (as near as I can call it) squeak and a something of a grind. 
The rattle/grind progressed with time and is almost continuous now. It 
seams to be coming from the water pump area.

On the same drive I started getting a lurch/buck in third-fifth gears. 
Initially if I put it in 4th and drove on level ground the bucking stopped. 
It feels like when you shift gears too soon and a vehicle jerks you around 
until you reach a speed which matched you current gear range. This kind of 
went away as the car warmed up; however, it returned more significantly on 
the trip home that evening (and did not go away as the engine warmed up). 
The engine seems to be running fine and I am assuming it is not a fuel feed 
problem since I had a full tank and there does not appear to be a bucking 
problem in first at all even with a moderate acceleration. I did start to 
get a hint of bucking in second on the return trip too.

> From all the above my leaning is:
1) Replace the water pump
2) Need a new clutch (car has 37k+ miles and I assume it is the original 
clutch)

All that said, one more question. From the top of the recovery bottle a 
3/4" hose comes off and goes toward the back of the engine. As near as I 
can tell, a "T" routes this hose into the engine and routes the second hose 
under the car to disappear behind a large metal plate. There also appears 
to be another hose entering the same location but I did not trace that one. 
I assume this is to the heater core. Is this true? Is this something I can 
replace w/o disassembling the car? Parts manual was useless to me here so I 
guess I missed something.

Thanks,
Ed
10541


_________________________________________________________________
MSN Photos is the easiest way to share and print your photos: 
http://photos.msn.com/support/worldwide.aspx