i know a little bout cars always fixed my own since day one but this is the first car i have ever had/workd on with a internal water but thats driven off timeing chain my cars running hot and its holding prusser so i know its not radator or hoses but i need to know a way to check and make sure its the water pump befor i go tearing the engine apart
When the engine is cold, open the radiator cap and leave it off. Start the car and let it warm up. After about 10 minutes the thermostat should open and you will see the coolant flowing past the radiator opening. It should be fairly forceful, and that's the water pump.
In the olden days when the fan was attached to the front of the water pump,you could hold the fan by either side and see if it moves at all.If theres movement of the shaft then that usually means the bearings are worn.The more it moves the worse it is.Not much help if you got thermo fans though.
When the car is running feel the hoses to see if the bottom hose is warm or not. If it is a lot cooler than the top one the water pump may not be working. Also turn on the heater to see if there is heat in the car. If there is heat inside the car the water pump is working. If the car is running hot while driving around town but runs cooler while driving on the highway the cooling fan may not be working properly. That car has a two stage cooling fan that is known for going bad. The low speed setting is the speed that is normally used and the high speed setting is used when the air conditioning is on. With that in mind you can try turning on the air conditioning to see if the motor cools down when it is hot. You will also want to see if the fan is coming on at all before you go too far and check the fuses and relays before you assume the fan motor is bad because they are around $100.00. Also I should note that I assumed that you have already checked the fluid level and thermostat. If not you need to check that first. Hope i have been helpful.
