I took my 04 Grand Prix to the mechanic for a coolant change. My car had never drip coolant until after the coolant change . I took my car today to the same mechanic and he told me that the problem was the water pump and wants to charge me 70 dollars. Could changing the coolant affect the water pump. Or did the mechanic damaged the water pump on purpose.
Changing the coolant would not damage your water pump, especially not in a short period of time. Water pumps just eventually go bad and the first sign is usually a leak. If your mechanic is going to replace your water pump for 70 dollars I think that sounds very reasonable.
The mechanic should have used GM Dexcool coolant, but even if he didn't, the chances are your coolant was long overdue for replacement and your water pump suffered from your failure to change the coolant as per your owner's manual maintenance schedule.
Changing coolant would not make it start leaking. MAYBE if someone before had used some sort of stop leak garbage, but that's pretty unlikely. That car has probably been around the block for some time, it's likely just coincidence. However, it shouldn't be hard to find one of your friends that can crawl under the car and confirm what the problem is. Could just be a loose hose clamp.
I will try to put this simply. It is very serious. Water cools your engine and without the pump to circulate it, your engine will overheat and very quickly damage itself. Even if you add water constantly, it is not being circulated, your engine will overheat and the new water you will put in will probably instantly boil and rush up into your face. My advice. Don't drive it until you can get it fixed. Sorry, I know this isn't what you wanted to hear, but I am concerned for your safety and I don't want you to wreck your engine and you will if you keep driving it. The damage you can do is like this. The engine overheats and seizes up. This means that the engine parts, pistons and rings have expanded beyond design limits. They break inside and wreak havoc. The crankshaft and big end bearings can seize also. If all this happens, you are looking at a reconditioned engine. Fix your pump. It's cheaper
its hard to say the technition damaged the pump , and most likely he didnt . being an 04 model and if the car has the engine i think it does then it was probably a matter of time the pump went out anyway and 70 dollars is a ''good'' deal if parts were included .so count your blessings. those pumps are notorius for going bad but easily changed and remember to check and use the proper coolant on a regualr basis the ph level and potency for temp . i have installed pumps on these cars and some people have ignored my advice to replace them when dripping only to have it cost them a small fortune in the end for warping the heads.
