Indicators of a bad water pump?

[L0G1C]

What are some indicators that you water pump is bad?

For about 2 days now, the temperature climbs any time I'm not on the freeway doing 65+. If I sit in the drive way for more than 60 seconds after a drive, the temp gauge hits the red zone, and I promptly turn it off. I'm wondering if it's the pump or the thermostat. I have a new pump waiting to go on when I do my timing belt, but I just haven't had a chance to get to it yet.

 

[Pro3racer]

A bad water pump, if you see any coolant dripping from under the timing belt area, suspect the pump is bad, it is letting coolant out of a little drip pipe, so the coolant doesn't pour on your timing belt(very bad ). Also, when you car is running, and your thermostat out of the car, see, or feel, if any coolant is moving. If its not moving, the pump ain't pumping. Check all your obvious things first, but if your doing a timing belt job, you should change the pump anyway, so do your timing job, then move on from there.

 

[L0G1C]

Thanks!

 

[L0G1C]

I removed the old thermostat and it was stuck open about 1/4 of an inch. I drove it around and was nice for the first 5 minutes, then I wasn't so nice for the next 5 and it never got past the "E" in TEMP above the gauge. I got home and idled it for about 10 more minutes and it stayed in the same place. I'm going to datalog it tomorrow and see what temp it opens up at and where it stays when I drive it to work in the morning. Hopefully it's all good for now. I'm going to do all the belts and a new water pump this coming weekend and get it out of the way.

 

[Pro3racer]

Well, i didn't mean drive with the thermostat out, but i guess its okay. Yea, your temp will never really rise with your thermostat out, because....If your water pump is working, your coolant will never heat up, do to it going straight to the radiator resistance free. When you were letting it idle, did you feel the hoses, could you feel coolant flowing through them if you squeezed them? It sounds like your water pump is good, and your thermostat is the culprit. Thats good, its only about 6 bucks for a new one and a gasket, but i still highly recommend changing your pump with your timing belt. Are you leaking any coolant?

 

[L0G1C]

Yeah, I meant that I pulled the old one and put in a new one. . sorry, my bad. But, no I'm not leaking any coolant and the system is holding pressure. There is definately flow through the upper radiator hose. It was also about 1/2 a gallon low on coolant (just an estimate, but that's how much 50/50 mix had to put in to top it off after I put the new thermostat in). I did run it without the thermostat in, but only long enough to observe the flow through the housing without the cap on, but I didn't drive it anywhere. It flowed well, so I put the new one in and went with it.

 

[Pro3racer]

Well, than your pump is good to go Is your overheating problem good now with your new thermostat, if its not, let the car warm up, make sure your thermostat opens, your upper hose will be warm/hot. Then after that, feel your lower hose, it should be warm, if its not, then you have a clog in the radiator. Also, feel both of your heater hoses, making sure they're both warm, how is your cabin heating? Then, continuesly check your coolant level, if its stable, and your still overheating, drain your coolant, do a flush, there may be a clog somewhere. Otherwise the last resort would be a HG, hopefully not though.

 

[L0G1C]

When I put the new thermostat in, I left the cap off and ran it until I saw flow. The heater works better now than it has the whole time I've owned the car previous to now. The wierd thing is that now that I've got my cooling problem taken care of, my knock isn't as bad all the time on my datalogger. I don't see that they would be related, but what the hell...

So far, it's running much better. Thanks for all your help!

 

[Pro3racer]

No problem! Anytime