Hey for the past month my car has been leaking coolant, making a wierd noise when i drive it, and saying low coolant when its filled to the top.my husband took it out to get gas this morning and it stopped on him and had to be towed to the mechanicthe mechanic said its the water pump and somethin about anti freeze and this cost almost 300 bucks with parts and laborim just wanting to know if a water pump does indeed cause issues like this before we dish out this kinda money!!! btw its a 96 chevy luminathanks
if coolant is leaking out of the front of the pump(right where it spins) the water pump does need to be changed.300.00 dollars is a fair price for parts and labor. you may also have to change the thermostat
Yes, most certainly. Sounds like the mechanic knows what he or she is doing and the cost is reasonable. You'd be smart to get a coolant drain and refill after he installs the new pump. Antifreeze should be changed every 2 to 3 years at most.
It's not will a bad water pump cause your car to overheat, it's a bad water pump WILL cause your car to overheat. It circulates the heated water from your engine block to the radiator to be cooled and back to the engine. Stop moving the heat away from the engine, overheated engine. A bad water pump can have several symptoms. There can be a noisy, ratteling sound coming from the pump when the car is running, there can be water actually leaking out of the pump, or in a worst case, the pump will freeze up and throw the fan belt. The water pump has a metal impeller spinning inside of the housing. Over time, the bearings or sleeve can wear out something gets inside of the pump and damages the impeller blades. There is no proper way to repair a water pump, it must be replaced. Like all moving parts in a vehicle, they will wear out over time. If you can't tell if it is leaking or damaged, I recommend taking it to a mechanic and letting them take a look. They can tell you if it needs to be replaced and (hold onto your wallet) how much it will cost.
The water pump pumps cooled water around the engine, so yes if it has an issue like leaking then there is a very high chance that the engine will overheat. Anti-freeze is only really required in the winter when temperatures get low enough to freeze the water in the system and therefore will not be able to be pumped around the engine, as it's now summer there is no danger not using anti-freeze but is advisable to get some added before the cold weather comes.
Yes, when a water pump starts going bad it leaks antifreeze, and if you have low antifreeze engine will get hot and lock up. You'll be lucky if you didn't screw up the bearings(or any thing else). The low coolant light comes on when the water pump quites pumping too. If the car still doesn't turn over after it has cooled down, then the engine is toast.
