water pump problem

[DaveEye]

i just posted an issue with my transmission, but on the same trip my water pump went bad. not a good trip so far as you can imagine. anyway, i talked to a couple of mechanics that just happened to be around when the water pump failed and the car started to overheat. they recommended that i could keep driving the remaining 140 miles to my destination is i just kept making sure to pull over periodically and refill the radiator. so i did, and it seemed okay while the car was moving on the highway. when i would come to a stop light though, the car would overheat and i would have to pull off, let it cool down, then refill the radiator with water.

the issue is that the water pump is spraying out coolant from a relief valve near the bottom, which drains the radiator, which in turn causes the car to overheat. my situation is that i got an estimate from pepboys for almost $400 to replace the waterpump. i can order the water pump online for around $20 and found the how-to for the replacements, which is within in my ability to do. i can't really afford to pay $400 while i am away from home, and in addition, if i can fix it for $380 less, then it makes sense to do it myself.

so my question is, since i was able to drive 140 miles and make it okay, what about going the whole way home, which about 450 miles, and then replacing it myself in my garage? i'd be driving late at night when there is no traffic nor heat, and i would take a bunch of water bottles with me to replenish the radiator once it started to overheat.

sorry for being cheap here, but it would really help if i could make it home and do the replacement myself and i am hoping that someone knowledgable in this matter could advise me. thanks very much!

[A20A1]

Mine normally cost around $30-$60. I got the GMB version though. Some people have problems with them but they have lasted me 2 years now on my corolla and even longer on the accord so I'm happy with it.

I would not run with a bad pump... just adding water isn't helping, the water/coolant actually needs to circulate, relying on the temp gauge is a bad idea, if the water doesn't circulate you don't get a very accurate reading, you could be much hotter then the gauge shows.

[cygnus x-1]

A friend of mine did something similar with a '73 AMC station wagon. The water pump was literally spewing water so he dumped in tons of stopleak and managed to plug it up enough to keep running. When the water leaked out and the temp started going up he would stop and refill. I think he went nearly 600 miles this way.
Try running the heat to see if the water is actually circulating. If you get good heat then your fine. You can also use the heater to supplement the radiator. Just keep a close watch on that temp gauge.

C|

[w261w261]

I don't know about the "relief valve" leaking, but I'll tell you what happened years ago with my '85 Audi. The water pump started to leak, but not much. I would wait until the temperature warning came on, then I would pull over and fill it up from a gallon of mix I carried in the trunk. This went on for a little while, getting gradually worse.

My brother came to visit, and when it was time to take him back to Newark Airport, I put an extra jug of coolant in the trunk and started on the 75 mile trip. About 30 miles into it, on comes the light, so I pull over and fill up. Then it came on again, a little sooner than I expected, but ok. Then, right at the exit on the NJ Tpk, it happens again, then again after just a couple of miles. By the time we got to the parking garage, it just totally hemorrahaged over the floor. You don't want to know how tough it was to get that car out of the garage, out of the airport, and eventually back to CT. There was no way at the end that the engine was getting any coolant.

450 miles is a long way to go with a failing pump, I'm thinking.

[cygnus x-1]

As Dirty Harry would say, I guess this is one of those occasions where you have to ask youself one question. Do I feel lucky? Well, do ya?

C|

[88Accord-DX]

The water pump isn't hard to replace. It's just working in a tight spot that is tedious. Remove the belt, take off the water pump pulley, remove the bolts, remove the gasket/O-ring. Bolts are 10mm I think.

What your calling a releif valve is a weep hole that leaks when the pump is gone. Some tricks to make it back home would be to leave the cap loose & putting some pepper in the radiator. That's old school, but it might help seal up that hole to get you by. The thing about getting an engine real hot is that it can make the piston rings loose their expansion rate & possibly warping the head. Be carefull & good luck.

[Blkblurr]

The issue with water pump failure is the bearing and the seal. If the seal is bad and leaking out the hole below, the bearing has gotten sloppy. The issue with making the decision of drive it home is whether the water pump bearing will hold out. I would be temped to try the trip if the problem just started but get a backup plan first.

[DaveEye]

hey everyone, thanks for the advice! one thing i thought about today is what if i just bought the water pump here locally with the wrenches i will need to do the job. then, just replace the water pump here at the parking lot of my hotel. does anyone have personal experience doing this repair and is it something i can do with a wrench or two and by myself? i'm wondering about getting enough tension on the belt by hand to keep the alternator turning and running the electrical during the drive home. probably a minor consideration is i can ensure that the car won't overheat by changing the water pump first. from what i have seen, it looks like the alternator has to come loose, then i take off the belt, loosen some bolts, take off the water pump, then work backwards for the install.

thanks!

[88Accord-DX]

Your better off getting a cheap metric socket set & a few extentions than using wrenches to get the water pump off.

[ChaseR]

I am just going to replace mine while I have the motor out of the car... Better to just get it done now while its easy, llol...

[DaveEye]

i ended up driving to the local autozone, picked up a set of ratchets/sockets, wrenches, and a waterpump. just replaced it and it is working fine so i should be able to make it back without any problems...thanks again for all of the help!

ps. i haven't seen this mentioned in most of the posts regarding the water pump replacement instructions, but there is a plastic plug under the water pump that comes out of the bottom cover of the timing belt. there is a bolt behind this and it is such a pain to get to. not much room to get in there and get enough leverage to pull it out. it does not unscrew, you have to actually really work on it and pop it out.

[pressed001]

Good thread. Made me smile because my water pump is leaking slowly right now and I was wondering exactly how to go about fixing it. It's been leaking for a couple weeks and I just keep filling it up w/ about 1/4 gallon of water per day. I just put a new radiator in, new valve cover gasket, adjusted the idle, and new front rotors/pads. I love the car but it needs a lot of love. I have to retrofit the AC and charge it, get a new oil pan gasket, fix a small oil leak at a clamp, install a new muffler, replace worn front suspension parts, and replace all serpentine belts along w/ the water pump.
But anyway, thx for all the good info.

[lostforawhile]

you can loosen the bolts holding the top of the lower timing cover on, and pull it partly out of the way. I did this and didn't have any problem removing the pump. I had one go bad with no obvious damage, replaced it and it was fine.

[ecogabriel]

i ended up driving to the local autozone, picked up a set of ratchets/sockets, wrenches, and a waterpump. just replaced it and it is working fine so i should be able to make it back without any problems...thanks again for all of the help!

I have just saw -and read- the thread. Glad you got your problem solved and did not take the gamble of driving on a failed water pump.

As an added bonus, your should feel confident that you can address issues with the car when you are away from home. It won't hurt if you can get a set of tools to go with you when on a trip for extra piece of mind.