they say a water pump going bad is supposed to weep out of that hole....Yet I see that a new water pump kit has two gaskettes.some o rings....is it likely that it can leak from these sources and still not come out the weep hole?They talk about berring that could go bad or seals gone bad...does this occure in the area that gets inserted into the engine( the turbine portion of the pump)if you had to guess..where is the most likely area for a water pump to fail...if seems like I have wetness off to the left( back toward the firewall) and less off to the right( front of the car)..more off the left..it is very subtile off the right.I don't see anything coming out of the weep hole..BUT the weephole is directly on top( dead center)and back towards the engine in this model. I have the car jacked up on the passengers side/next to the wheel wellso the fluid is most likely to flow backwards toward the drivers side.
A water pump could have all the works above the water, pulling via suction and pushed via atmospheric rigidity to a optimal of roughly 33 ft. Or it could have the motor above water and the lifting mechanism below with an prolonged rod connecting (like an oil properly with the donkey engine on the outdoors), yet a gaggle of weight and friction. Or it truly is waterproofed and the motor and pump decreased down the drilled shaft on a plastic pipe with an electric cord jointly with and push the water up. The final is a submersable. further sump pumps and recirculating pumps the place the cord, motor, and pump are below the liquid.
Here's the deal. You have to look at your cooling system as a whole system, not just a collection of parts. What makes you suspect the water pump? Is the vehicle overheating? Are you loosing coolant? How many miles are on the vehicle? Everything is a clue to the answer. Where is a pump most likely to fail? Anywhere. A lot of times the impeller will break, but sometimes the gaskets rot out, sometimes the housing itself cracks, sometimes the bearing freezes up. Could be a couple different things. I am assuming by your description you have some type of transverse motor. Could a bad water pump be spraying coolant all over your firewall? Sure, but so could a bad hose or bad clamp somewhere. A hole in the radiator could spray coolant that far back under pressure, although you would probably see moisture around the radiator as well. It's impossible to say without inspecting the vehicle in person. My personal opinion, stay away from the big name parts retailers employees unless you KNOW they know what they are talking about. Some of them do, many don't. They are hired to sell parts, not diagnose problems. Even if they do know about vehicles they can't give an accurate diagnosis without looking first hand. You are better off to find a small local shop with a good reputation and have them look at your vehicle for you.
The water pump can go bad in other ways that means it will not leak. But it will come apart in side and will not pump water. The only way to check it is to use a pressure checker. Put a light pressure on the cooling system. As the engine runs the water pressure should build up to operation tempter. Without over hearting. If the pressure build us to fast. The temp stat is stuck closed. If their is little pressure build up there is a leak in the system. The other way is to start a cold engine and watch the water in the radiator. It should start moving thought the system when the t-stat up up. If the pump was not leaking at the gasket. The seal can go bad. The is a weep hole on the bottom as well on most water pump. It could a heater line or the a hose or steel tub that cool the throbbed or a intake gasket. It could be a head gasket as well. Since you didn't give the make and model. It is hard to pin point the leak to one area.
Yes it's possible one of the gaskets is bad,but if you're going thru the work of replacing the gasket you may as well replace the water pump,unless it's a new unit already
I see you are very concerned. All we can do is guess. Even some of the top car guys on this site would just be guessing. Take your car to a parts store. Those guys will be more than happy to help without charging you a cent. Advice is free. You could be spending money to fix something that is not broken by listening to the posers on this site. REMEMBER; that when it is leaking, you are moving, like high winds blowing across the engine compartment and any fluid is being blown towards the back of your engine.
