I got my oil changed yesterday and took like a 3 hour drive and back home and had no issues.. today I was at my work visiting and I noticed smoke coming from the engine [sort of more of steam] and a lot of smoke coming from the exhaust. The light on the gauge inside the car for the engine temp isn't working but all the other ones are. A mechanic told me it was a bad water pump, but I just want some more opinions. Or if the oil change could of effected that.. My engine coolant wasn't that low but a greenish liquid was really leaking from underneath the car.
sorry but you need to let a pro do this, you could of easily blown your head gaskets(MAJOR MONEY), running it hot, good luck, oil changes has nothing to do with the coolant problem, even if they topped off the antifreeze they would charge you and tell you, and if they left the cap off the coolant resivoir, it wouldnt steam and smoke out of the exhaust, good luck
water pump ,hoses or freezeout plugs,cracked block
*shakes magic ball* I think its the heater control valve.
An oil change does not make a water pump go bad. Nor does the lack on an oil change. They just go bad over time. Just because there was steam like smoke coming from the exhaust system does not mean there is a water pump problem (water is a natural by product of combustion). Now the green fluid does mean that you have a coolant leak. But that could be because the reservoir was over filled when the engine was serviced. Some shops top off all fluids, and if the tank is over filled the excess has to go some where. But if could be a bad water pump. If so there will be water coming from the weep hole on the water pump. It could also be a bad hose. So unless I craw under it and take a good look, I don't know. If you do replace the water pump, and you have a timing belt that can be replaced, spring for the extra parts because in many cases the labor is already being paid for and the parts are less expensive then the labor at a later date. FYI: I do water pumps every other belt replacement for this reason.
