New Lr3 owner. Few questions

[K-rover]

Recently bought a 2005 lr3 with over 200k. Its in good condition, but has a few issues. The main one I was working on was a cold start belt squeal that doesn't really go away. Even after its warmed up. Just not as loud.
I have a new tensioner and belts coming tomorow.
I decided to get a head start on it by removing the fan and belts today. Thats when I noticed a small coolant leak from the tstat housing. Its dripping right onto the belt and tensioner, but its a tiny amount. Would that cause the squeal? I also noticed ( in my opinion) that the primary belt wasnt that tight compared to the other belt. Hoping the problem is a bad tensioner. Then I started spinning all the pulleys.

Thats when I noticed the water pump pully seemed to have some play in it. I took the pully off and I could move the shaft up and down a fraction of an inch. Enough to make it knock.

Im guessing thats unacceptable and it needs to be swapped out? Would that be where my noise is coming from??



Thanks!

 

[ERover82]

Those are common issues at that mileage. You’re on the right track of addressing them now.

 

[K-rover]

Ok I got everything replaced. No more squealing, but I cant get the air out of the coolant system. I pulled about a gallon out when I started. The level in the tank was originally overfilled. It dropped down to the full level. I started the engine and let it warm up, thinking that the coolant level would drop as the engine ran. It didn't move. I got the truck up to 200 degrees before I shut it off. Coolant in the tank hasnt moved. The heat was on hi as well.
Thoughts?

 

[Howski]

Method that’s worked for me: Remove reservoir cap and fill > Drive til it reaches temp, check level and top off > repeat until coolant level stabilizes > put cap on and shut down vehicle. Check fluid when cold and top off as needed. These things can take a few days to get every last bit of air out so you may need to do just a little topping off afterward

 

[K-rover]

Im going to pull the upper most hose and fill it from there. I pulled about a gallon from there. Im hoping its just a big air pocket

 

[K-rover]

Filling from the upper hose got it circulating. I still have some air in the system but it seems to be working its way out.

 

[K-rover]

So squeak is back, but not at idle. Comes in around 1500 rpm. Moves with engine rpm. Then i noticed it goes away when the AC is on. Is that a bad AC compressor??

Also I have bleed the air out. Getting hot air in all vents except the driver middle vent. Its warm but not hot like the others engine temps are 194-201 with the ac on. Thoughts?

 

[pinkytoe69]

Getting hot air in all vents except the driver middle vent. Its warm but not hot like the others engine temps are 194-201 with the ac on. Thoughts?

Your heater core is probably starting to clog...

RRS heater issues

I have an issue with weak heat on the driver's side. Passenger side is very hot. Center driver-side vent and footwell are on the warm-ish side of lukewarm. The window side vent is a little bit better. The actual airflow from these vents seems lower than the passenger side as well. The...

discoweb.org

 

[K-rover]

Symptoms sound the same. Did you replace it or did you have any luck un clogging it?

 

[pinkytoe69]

No, I didn't replace it.

The CLR soak with hot water air flush got me from cold air back to lukewarm heat. It's not great but it is enough to at least keep my feet warm with only the bottom vents on at least. It's best if the passenger side is set to like 72°, so it doesn't steal all the hot air

The results were encouraging enough that I'm going to try it again when it warms up a bit before I decide on actually replacing it.

The thread where I got the idea for all this, the dude poured boiler cleaner/descaler in it. I haven't benn able to find that stuff.

 

[discostew]

Your heater core is probably starting to clog...

RRS heater issues

I have an issue with weak heat on the driver's side. Passenger side is very hot. Center driver-side vent and footwell are on the warm-ish side of lukewarm. The window side vent is a little bit better. The actual airflow from these vents seems lower than the passenger side as well. The...

discoweb.org

Nice work grasshopper

 

[K-rover]

So the squeak ended up being the idler pulley. It was the old design. Replaced with the newer design and now it's nice and quiet.