Well, when I got home from work today I started the car up to see if it was still making the racket it was yesterday; it was.

So, I took the belt off of the water pump, noticed that it was VERY difficult to turn by hand, and started the car and heard NO nasty racket    Music to my ears since I was hoping it wasn't a main or rod bearing.

No more procrastinating for me though I guess  

Time to:

• Change the head
  
• Change the water pump
  
• Change the timing belt
  
• Change the front crankshaft seal
  

I wasn't planning on changing the oil pump.  I glanced through the manual and it looked like I have to drop the pan (which means dropping the differential   ) to get the oil pump out.  I won't do that unless it's very obvious I have some kind of oil pump problem (darn I wish I had put a oil pressure gauge in this thing a while back; if it survives my repairs, I'll do just that) or if I have to remove the oil pump to change the front crank seal.  I had another post asking if I needed to do that but it may be inaccessible, so do I?

What kind of nasty racket is it making?  Something in my engine makes a high pitched squeal when it is cold out and the engine is cold.  It did this last winter but didn't do it much in the summer?  How much is a water pump?  What is involved in changing one?  Thanks.

I replaced the oil pump after I lost the turbo
in Moab, never could get it (the pan) to stop
leaking after that, I had to drop the pan off
and clean the old gasket off the block (PITA)
it's quite a chore, if you don't have to replace
the pump I would leave it alone.

This involves dropping the front diff, the pan and
the steering gear, just to get enough room to
get the pan off, as well as remove the oil pickup
to remove the pan. I used a nice 1/8" bead of
ultra gray silicone, which has "outstanding" oil
resistance, and look like the stock stuff that
the pan was glued on with when I bought the
trucklet. So far no leaks, but I had the pump off
2 times to try and get the oil leak stopped, this
was the second time I took the pan off, I used
some Yamabond4 the first time, didn't work, wasn't
thick enough, I guess it's made for machined case
halves.

You can remove the studs in the oil pump and
replace them with bolts, this way you don't have
to take the pan off to replace the pump, but be
warned about the trouble I had with leaks after
wards

Wild

What kind of nasty racket is it making?  Something in my engine makes a high pitched squeal when it is cold out and the engine is cold.  It did this last winter but didn't do it much in the summer?  How much is a water pump?  What is involved in changing one?  Thanks.

Last week an unusual sound started.  The best description I have for it is a "low pitched buzz".  That was all until it just let go and started "knocking".  No squealing, but I have had bearings do that before.  I've even had them smoke.

I haven't done it yet, or before, but my understanding is that it's like a timing belt job.  The timing belt cover and timing belt come off to remove the water pump.  I've got considerably more that I need/want to do beyond that, but I'll let you know how it goes.

Have you triple checked your belts for squeaking?

I replaced the oil pump after I lost the turbo
in Moab, never could get it (the pan) to stop
leaking after that, I had to drop the pan off
and clean the old gasket off the block (PITA)
it's quite a chore, if you don't have to replace
the pump I would leave it alone.

This involves dropping the front diff, the pan and
the steering gear, just to get enough room to
get the pan off, as well as remove the oil pickup
to remove the pan. I used a nice 1/8" bead of
ultra gray silicone, which has "outstanding" oil
resistance, and look like the stock stuff that
the pan was glued on with when I bought the
trucklet. So far no leaks, but I had the pump off
2 times to try and get the oil leak stopped, this
was the second time I took the pan off, I used
some Yamabond4 the first time, didn't work, wasn't
thick enough, I guess it's made for machined case
halves.

You can remove the studs in the oil pump and
replace them with bolts, this way you don't have
to take the pan off to replace the pump, but be
warned about the trouble I had with leaks after
wards

Wild

That's about what I saw in the manual.  No wonder the shop quoted 7.5 hours to change the front seal.  So, I guess I'll know for sure when I get in there, but it sounds like I won't be able to get to the front crank seal unless the oil pump is removed  :-/

Crank seal is easily removed with the pump
on the engine, just get a seal hook to grab
it with, then pull it out.

The preceding was to change the pump

Wild

Thanks.

That's the info I got from my other post "Front Crank Seal Replacement ".

Nice to hear it from multiple sources.  I'm dreading this job less now.

I've changed the front seal 3 times,
twice when I changed the timing belt
and once at my rebuild