And if it needs to be replaced, does that spell trouble for a car? I see a car I might like to buy, but the ad says that the water pump needs to be replaced. Someone please enlighten me. Thanks.
I have been in the automotive cooling business for over 25 years and Michael is exactly right. Depends on the make model and year . Usually normal wear and tear on a car will cause the pump to fail it is a fast moving part but at the same rate have some one point out the cooling systems recovery bottle and look inside of it and take a whiff. If it looks bad and smells bad that could be your sign to move on to the next car. Look for rust colored stuff in the coolant bottle BUT if it is a GM product after 95 i believe they have orange coolant so don't let that through you off either.
a water pump circulates the coolant thru the radiator to keep the engine cool. Some are outside of the engine and fairly easy to replace. others are stuck in at rediculous places and require special tools and dynamite to remove. It better be an awful nice car but at least the seller was honest about it so maybe he would be honest about th rest of the car. Its not a BIG expense but maybe you sould get an estimate so you know and can add that to what you will have to pay for the car. and get it fixed right away so you don't have to replace the engine too.
Most water pumps are fairly cheap either new or rebuilt. Get it replaced it keeps the engine cooled off and prevents overheating. Personally I would avoid that car unless the owner replaces the pump first. The cost is only $100 - $200 for most cars. By him replacing it you will be able to see how the car runs after, any rattling or knocking means it is toast already and not worth any more than scrap iron.
did u get a mechanic to do it? or do it yourself? if you had a mechanic do it, ask them to fix it if you had no problems prior. Could be thermostat, could be you dont have enough coolant in radiator or even proper coolant to water ratio. All i know is you need to bleed out the radiator to remove all air after water pump is taken off and put back on, because that can cause problems aswell. ok well you just updated it, so i am too, your mechanic sounds like a dumb ****, he should have bled air out of radiator, the fact he told you is weird, should have fixed it then and there. It is an important step of changing water pump. If there is air in it, your radiator and water pump wont be rotating the water properly. Tell him to fix it and say you did your research and you're not paying another cent!
when they said it need water pump that spell big trouble!!!! when water pump went out it caused the car over heated when the car over heated it could be million thing like blow head gasket special in the older car, if you get it cheap enough or vary love the car you can check the oil to see if water mix with it or try to start it up see if it smoking if none of those exit you probably okey to buy but save a lot money for repair later on.
