 Parts Replacement: The Water Pump
Posted by carsandtrucks on Tuesday, April 08 @ 12:42:56 PDT
I heard the growling noise coming from the engine of my son’s car as he pulled into the driveway. I thought to myself, that is not a good sound. He moved his mother’s car from the garage making room to get his in to determine the cause to the horrific noise. I met him in the garage ready to assist should he ask. At the least I knew he would be into my tool box. After lifting the hood and restarting the engine he located the source of the noise, the water pump. The water pumps purpose on your car or truck is to
circulate the coolant through passages in the engine. The coolant is what keeps your engine temperature in check. Water pumps fail in a couple of different ways. They may leak coolant from the pump seal or gasket, or in the case of my son’s car, a bearing inside the pump will fail. It is the bearing in the water pump that is causing all of the growling noise. Aside from flushing the cooling system in your vehicle every 3-4 years there really isn’t any preventative maintenance you can do to prolong the life of your water pump. The important thing to remember is if the pump has failed, don’t try to nurse it along. Without proper circulation you risk serious damage to the engine, so if the pump is shot, replace it sooner rather then later. On many vehicles the water pump is driven by the timing belt. If that is the case with your car or truck, then you should replace the timing belt when you replace the water pump. Because there are so many variations to the process of replacing a water pump, depending on make, model year and so forth, it is difficult to advise you whether this is a task you want to take on yourself. My best advice is to refer to the shop manual you have for your car or truck, and see what is involved in replacing the water pump. If you decide to proceed on your own, make sure that you properly dispose to the antifreeze that you remove from the vehicle. Most antifreeze is toxic and harmful to humans, pets, and the environment.
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