Further to my earlier post, I've been listening on tick over and I'm beginning to wonder if what I've got is a noisey water pump. Pretty sure I can detect would could be worn bearing or similar from that localised area. Perhaps that accounts for the droning I've been hearing and as she's approaching a belt change I'll do the pump at the same time. Having covered 102k & from members experience does that sound plausible?

What I'm really driving at in this post is the associated risk of pump failure, assuming it may be on it's way out. Any member experience and having checked out some details is there a realistic risk of seizure and as a result belt failure? If possible I'd prefer to live with it a month or two more until I change the belt etc. Thanks