I have an orange '07 SS/SC w/ 32,000 miles on it. Just recently, I've been hearin a weird noise comin from the bottom part of the engine. I think it might be that my intercooler pump went on it. I also noticed it's not holdin any coolant either. I put some in and after drivin for a few minutes, I checked again and it was all gone. The noise is pretty loud and can be heard from inside the car. Does anyone know what's goin on or have any input?

 

Check for leaks?

 

yeah i looked and found nothing. I remember seeing a thread on here saying to make sure that it's plugged in all the way. Somebody was sayin that there's wasn't plugged in all the way from the dealership. I haven't gotten around to it yet though, a little busy lately. If it is plugged in right then most likely the motor inside of the pump went on it. That's pretty common. What kind of pump would you suggest getting?

 

heat exchanger coolant? or engine coolant?

 

Weird, I'm going to Scranton today for an Armory site visit.

If it's your coolant pump you can check this with just the power of the vehicle keyed-on. Popl the hood and listen. But I don't think that's your problem...

The coolant pump (actually called a water pump) is damn near silent. you will only hear it outside the car when the engine is off and power keyed-on. If you are hearing it inside the car, and it goes away after a little bit of driving you probably have a leak. Explain what you mean by "weird sound" is it a ticking sound, almost like a lawn mower starting up? If so, you have a leak, probably at the header.

To check the water pump:

>key the cars power on only. open the coolant fill cap. look in, if the coolant is moving, the pump is working. Also, you should hear the whirring noise of the pump.

Checking for a leak:

> you said you didn't "SEE" any leaks. If it's at your header, you won't "SEE" anything. Sometimes a leak is so small that everything can look good and tight to the naked eye, but it makes a hell of a noise.

>take your finger nail under each of the bolts of the header. If you can get a finger nail under any of them -- they are loose. Take all the bolts out and re-tighten them starting from the inside bolts and working out.

> check the bolts of the header>downpipe. If these are able to be tightened (even slightly loose). Tighten them one at a time, and rotate going back to the previous bolt. Some people don't realize the see-saw effect bolts have. If you tighten one, it allows the other one to be tightened further. Which is why you work from the inside out on a header.

>check the bolts of the downpipe>catback. See above.

> be sure to check your gaskets too. These can cause small air leaks even if your bolts are tightened all the way.

Hope this helps.

 

If he has a GM tune on the car his pump won't turn on with the key. We set the ERT (engine run time) to 0 seconds (so its key on). Stock is 10 seconds. The only way his will turn on without the motor running is if you jumper the relay in the fuse panel.

 

it's the tube right in front of the supercharger. It was completely empty so I put some coolant in. I drove it for a few minutes so it would start circulating through. I popped the hood to check it out and there was nothing in there. I was talkin to a guy i know w/ a red ss/sc and he said it might be the intercooler pump. he said what happens w/ these pumps are the motor inside the pump goes in them after usually around a year. the coolant can't circulate and the heat caused from the supercharger is so hot that it causes the coolant to get burned off inside. he said that's probably why i have no coolant and the noise sounds like it is a bad intercooler pump. as for the "weird noise" i mentioned earlier, it's kind of hard to explain. it's like a humming noise at idle and it changes pitch when you blip the gas pedal. It almost sounds like the whine of the supercharger but not nearly as high pitched.

oh i forgot to mention too that this noise is continuous. As long as the car is started, the noise is there. When you just turn the car on and it is idling high, you can't really hear it. But once the car's warmed up, then it is very noticeable. I don't know if it does it though when you just turn the to "on". Haven't checked that out yet.

i just checked to see if its making the noise when the key is turned on and it isn't doing it. it only does it when you start the car.

 

RPM has no bearing on how hard the intercooler pump is working, so if the weird noise changes pitches when you give it gas, then it probably isnt the pump. Regardless, you have a leak somewhere...