What I am trying to explain is that I took my vehicle to be serviced for a water pump. They installed it, but when I got my vehicle back, it started making this clicking noise. I took it back to be diagnosed and they came back to me saying that I need a new engine? (Before I took in my vehicle there was no clicking sound or problems, just the water pump.)Could this be the dealer trying to pull something for their mistake or what?
Dont know how it is possible to put a water pump on wrong...only goes on one way. if its not right it will leak to all hell. the only way this will hurt your engine is if it ran too hot. Did it overheat before you bought it in to get fixed? now, i dont know what kind of vehicle. some car's timing belts run off of the pump, and even then worse case, with an interference engine, you could bend some valves and your car wouldn't even run which would cost you to fix the head. where did they tell you the clicking sound was comming from? what year/make/model? could be plain bad luck.
a stuck open thermostat will cause the engine to run colder, this will trick the computer into thinking the engine still needs to warm up and the fuel mixture will stay very rich. that could explain the fuel mileage issues. I don't think the bolt is a problem. The hose at the top should be hotter than the bottom hose, that means your radiator is doing its job, cooling the engine's coolant before it goes back into the engine.
Take it to a different Mechanic. Who diagnosed it in the first place? But yes a mis-installed water pump will do about as well as not having one, and they can be pretty important. If it was installed wrong then they are liable for the engine not you.
What kind of vehicle?' Depending on the car they may of had to remove the timing belt to access water pump and possibly not set timing correct or left a tensioner loose or soemthing. Did they tell you why you need a new engine?
It is hard to answer given the information given. What kind of car ? If your car has a waterpump that is turned by the timing belt, yes the shop could have messed up on the cam timing as they re-assembled after installing the pump. What is causing the clicking sound ? It could be a bent belt or any of a hundred things. Where do you hear the sound coming from ?
