Newbie Help

[KeishiiNeko]

I'm posting this here even though I live in NC cause where I live in Edenton, i'm closer to Virginia Beach then the other Sub Forums for North Carolina.

I bought a 99 Eclipse RS off of craigslist in Hampton on my way back from NY to NC. I knew it had some issues (the hood had to be tied down because of a dent and the car had an accident that seems to have bent the latch just so slightly out of place.) but other than that it drove nicely. Well on my way back driving it I had to do a U-Turn in a parking lot to goto a gas station to get some gas, when I did that a ton of steam came up from under the hood. I pulled into the gas station and parked the car. I untied the hood and it seems all the coolant from the reservoir came out because the cap on it was off slightly. So i bought more and filled the resivoir, got gas and proceeded.

I get home and everything seemed fine. I didn't notice if the car was overheating or not, or if anything else had gone wrong. The drive from the gas station to the house was about 30-40 mins. When I get it home I untie the hood and notice the reservoir is empty again so I filled it back up.

Anywho, i've had the car for a week now and I've had problems, first the thermostat was freaking out at one point and the car seemed to be over heating, I bought new coolant and filled the radiator and reservoir and even bought a new hose. It seems to be fine cause I seemed to have a problem with the whole thing not staying pressurized until i put a new upper radiator hose on. Also there seemed to be an oil leak because the oil level was next to none and oil around the valve cover and on top, so i bought oil sealer and a gasket kit but I used the sealer first and it seems to have worked.

Now my problem is back to the coolant. It seems I have a bad water pump. Around where I live (which is the boonies) there are repair shops but they don't know a lick about imports really. And I'm basically tapped out of money to shell out for labor on fixing the water pump.

Would anyone be willing to help me fix the water pump. I don't really have the tools to do it nor the knowledge. I have the basic knowledge and I can do anything that's asked. I can either compensate you with like 40 bucks and a free lunch or something. I'm about an hour 1/2 from Virginia Beach. Any feedback would be great and I can answer any questions.

Thanks for the taking the time in reading.


P.S.
I miss having car friends. Years ago I used to be in a car club with my 2000 Integra LS and we would go to this huge parking lot on Thursdays and hang out and there would be massive amount of people showing off their cars and racing and what not, so it would be fun to get back into that. It would be awesome to get some new friends out of this.

 

[drakenj]

Well the thing is are u sure its the water pump if it is ## in for t-belt job. Because that's where it is its under the timing belt I would check the whole system for leaks first start with the radiator look at the radiator cap thermostat housing heater core heater lines and tubes.
To check the heater core check the floor in the car next to the firewall if its wet. The 2nd Gen eclipse have problems with heater hoses cracking check them.
If its the thermostat housing look for rusty like stains around it
Let me know what u see

 

[KeishiiNeko]

I'm pretty sure its the water pump because while the car is on coolant is dripping off the oil pan corner like this video. I replaced the upper radiator hose which was old. The housing for the thermostat has no rust. The thermostat looks clean as a whistle and hasn't given me any problems except when I was losing pressure from the old hose. Yea I was figuring if someone helped me replace the water pump i might as well change the timing belt. Thanks for the reply btw. Hopefully I can find someone to help me out with this so I can have a car to get a job.

 

[KeishiiNeko]

Really, 100 views and still no one is willing to come help me do this. I got a set of tools, just don't have a good jack or jack stands, nor a torque wrench. I'm in Edenton, NC. its an hour and 45 from Virginia Beach. All I can offer is 40 bucks and free lunch. I know thats not much but it would be greatly appreciated. All my mechanic friends are in NY so it sucks not having any out here in the boonies. I'll be willing to answer any questions you guys might have.

 

[DDGDSM]

If you get on VADSM.com some of the guys on there live out that way. If i wasnt deploying in 3 weeks for the next 9 months id come help ya out.

 

[KeishiiNeko]

I went on VADSM and signed up but couldn't post anything and I just went on right now and it says there isn't a user with the name I was using so I signed up again. Hopefully someone will go on and give me permission to post.