I'm using an old Mitsubishi Lancer. Recently I changed my water pump it was leaking.To me it looked like a piece of metal, with a small fan thing (not motorized) How can it fail? There is no mechanics to it, just like a pipe with a fan (or turbine)I also messed with my radiator, I unhooked the main hose to clean out the coolant, since the plug was jammed. Could this have contributed to the failing of my water pump?
The water pump has a gasket inside to stop coolant from leaking out. When the gasket fails, coolant comes out of what is called a weep hole. If you don't replace the water pump, the bearing gets saturated with coolant and fails. When the bearing fails, the water pump pulley ceases and the belt fails. I have seen this too many times.
if the radiator is clogged up, the water pump cant circulate the water.
You should've noticed the worn out tires before u even stepped foot in the car. Go to any tire shop and get new tires, they will balance them when installing the new ones and that will take care of the vibrating. As for the water pump going out, I agree that that shouldn't have happened at 27k
if the plug was jammed then the most likely cause was some type of sealant someone put in the radiator to fix a leak......this is a prime example of why I say never to use the sealers in your engine....... what happened to your water pump is really rather simple......the waterpump (WP) is a simple device that spins and has bearings......the coolant you buy in the store has lubricants in it to keep the waterpump luricated.....the sealer that was put into the cooling system sealed of the passages the coolant uses to lubricate the WP bearings......this created too much friction and wore your bearing out causing the pump to fail!!!!!!......you need to flush the cooling system thoroughly several times to get all the sealer out......even then it will take a little luck and lots of praying for the sealer not to plug your engine water jacket and cause overheating!!! good luck!!!
That fan thing is called an impeller and when it spins it pumps coolant through the motor and radiator to keep it cool. It spins off a belt that is connected to the crankshaft pully and possiabley the alternator. That impeller and shaft spin on sealed roller bearings. These bearing will last a a lot of miles but they will wear out, and when they do the shaft moves out of round and wears out the seal that keeps the coolant from leaking out past the shaft. Over tighting of the drive belt will wear out the bearinge prematurley, but a pump will usually last 100,000 miles
