well I don't have a compression tester, but I do have a leak down tester, I got it years ago when I was first putting the motor together and wanted to make sure it wasn't junk.
I will try that.
I only have about 6k miles on the pump, but it's a good 10 years old so maybe time has gotten to the bearings. I also only have two accessories (alternator/power st) other than the water pump of course, and they are both on the same side so all that tension is in the same direction. I'm sure that's hard on the bearing too.
thanks for the advice, I really hope I don't find a major issue once I get the pump fixed up from that overheat.