Without a water pump, your engine would never get any coolant. The water pump to your engine is like your heart to your body. It circulates the coolant throughout the motor. If the water pump fails, you will have significant problems that can cause serious engine damage. How can you tell if your water pump is failing? Mike’s Auto Service & Repair lists the signs of water pump failure below.
Circulation Problems
As we said above, the water pump is the “heart” of your cooling system. If it is failing, the coolant will not be circulated through the engine. You may not realize this at first. The only sign that the coolant isn’t being circulated is your engine overheating, and we’ll talk more about that below. One way to test the water pump is to see how well the coolant is being circulated throughout the engine. We can do that for you.
Coolant Leakage
Coolant leaking out of your automobile is a sign that your water pump is going bad. The water pump is located in the front of your engine in the center. As such, you may see spots or puddles of engine coolant on your garage floor in this location. It’s important to have a leaking water pump replaced right away because if your engine coolant gets too low, your engine will overheat.
Corroded Water Pump
Sometimes the leak is not obvious. Rather, the old water pump has become corroded and the coolant is seeping out of it. This looks like gel surrounding the water pump. This means that your water pump has a slow leak, but do not think that this is not a problem. Just because you don’t have pools of coolant on your garage floor doesn’t mean that you don’t need to have the water pump replaced.
Noises
The water pump has a series of mechanisms inside of it that helps it circulate the engine coolant. If these mechanisms are starting to go bad, you may hear grinding coming from the front portion of your engine. This could be a sign that the water pump is wearing out from the inside.
Overheating
Finally, all of these things will make your engine overheat. As we said above, if the water pump has failed and is unable to do its job, your engine will not get the coolant it needs and it will overheat. Do not let your engine get so hot that you see steam coming out from underneath the hood. You could blow a radiator cap at this temperature.
Mike’s Auto Service & Repair in West Springfield, MA, would be happy to inspect your water pump and replace it if necessary. Call our shop today to schedule an appointment.
