I think my water pump just broke

[Twista89]

Winter just brings out problems in my car....I started the car up about 20 minutes ago and it was very slow to start and when it finally started up I noticed a burning smell coming from inside the engine compartment. I opened the hood and everything seemed to be ok but then I looked under the car and see coolant just pouring out from behind the engine. I put my hand under the water pump and all I felt was coolant. I then opened up the radiator cap to see most of the coolant was frozen so Im guessing thats what caused it.

Since Im stuck at college right now I was going to take it into a shop to get it fixed and since I never had to do anything like this before I was wondering what are some normal prices for getting the water pump replaced on my car?? I dont want to get boned since I look young and in need to get this fixed. I was also wondering what should I do with this frozen coolant is there any other damage that could have been done because of it??? Please help!!!

[sunrunner_pei]

This is not a good week for water pumps. :(

[jonnythan]

I'm going to be calling around to mechanics and dealers tomorrow to get quotes for doing just that. It's gonna be expensive - several hundred bucks. Sorry :(

I'll let you know what I come up with prices.

[BIGGGPOPPA]

Could be serious...Or Not

Maybe the coolant was old and all you need Is A flush maybe a
Thermostat that is or was stuck I recommend a Locally owned
independent repair shop since dealers Tend to "Bone" People LOL

Good Luck ;)

[Twista89]

Coolant wasnt old...barely in the system for a couple of months but yea Im almost 90% sure the water pump is gone because all of the coolant is running down the thermostat hose that runs up to the water pump but Ill be able to check it better tomorrow, hopefully I didnt blow a head gasket or anything because I hear frozen coolant can unsettle it when it melts. Also would it be cheaper if I bought the parts myself and just have to pay a shop for labor??? Hopefully someone that has gone threw this with the 92-95s can ring in because I know it should be cheaper on the 2.3 than it is the 2.4 because of the fact that the water pump isnt connected to the timing chain so all that is needed to be removed is the exhaust manifold.

Thanks for you guys help!!!

[Igor Gavric]

Twista

Frozen coolant can cause a lot of headaches. The coolant was not prepared properly, and needs to be flushed out, and replaced with proper mixture.
Mixing coolant has to be done either 50% water 50% coolant or there in between 60% coolant and 40% water. Coolant has a chemical reaction it needs to perform with water, so yes, coolant can freeze too if not properly mixed.

Your Pump was pushed away by force of crystalizing coolant (ice), which expands when freezing, and the reason it was smelling like burnt rubber is because the fins could not spin due to ice, forcing the belt to spin around the pulley.

Other problems could exist now due to the same effect. Water molecules expand when ice is forming (if you freeze water in cup, there will be more ice volume than water you started with). Now imagine this in closed environment, metal could be forced apart by ice via weakest point.

After replacing your pump and gasket, properly mixing coolant (after you have thawed your engine out by letting it sit somewhere warm), you basically will not know other damage that may have formed until your coolant pressurises.

If you're doing the job yourself, be prepared for the following:

1. Removing screws from water pump, pay attention to threads, meaning if the screws are loose and contain pieces of aluminum on them, you could be looking at new casing.
2. Carefully clean complete area where the gasket is supposed to sit (if and when above procedure is completed succesfully).
3. Apply new gasket, make sure screws are alligned properly, then press the water pump onto the gasket, tighten screws. Remember not to be agressive with screws. Tighten but make sure you don't over-tighten.
4. Assuming your coolant has been mostly drained, mix proper 50% coolant, 50% water mix until full, start carm wait for it to get warm, add coolant as required (expect mess).
This will eliminate "air pockets".
5. Test your coolant, making sure it reads -40 degrees Celsius (-40 degrees Farenheit)

6. Drive car to safe dry spot, check under it for more coolant drips.
7. Good Luck!

Be prepared to deal with all of these problems.
The longer your car sits in the cold, the more problems can occur.
Replacing the complete aluminum casing (i think its aluminum) will cause you to take more engine parts apart. I hope you're mechanically inclined.

I am not saying this to scare you, but it is the truth.

I wish you luck, and I hope its only the water pump that suffered damage, and not more than that.

[Twista89]

Wow thanks for all the information...hopefully nothing else went bad I remember seeing alot of coolant pouring out when I started the car so Im thinking not all the coolant was frozen but anything could of gone wrong like you said. I need to figure out how Im going to thaw out the rest of the coolant right now because its stuck its my college parking lot right now. I just might have to get it towed even though I dont want to.

[Twista89]

Wow and all I get is idiots on the phone tihnking that my car is the twin cam which they think its on the timing belt so there tryna charge me a arm and a leg to get this fixed...wow i hate stubborn people

[jonnythan]

FYI, I just talked to two dealers and my local mechanic.

The dealers quoted 6 hour labor, $130 pump, $35 coolant, around $735 + tax total.

The mechanic said that 6 hours is potentially conservative for labor and any quote under $1000 is good.

[Matt95GT]

Check out the water inlet/t-stat housing too... since ice could damage any of those, not just the pump. (there might be a freeze plug on that part too, not sure)

This is not a good week for water pumps. :(

Seriously... what is that... 4-5 of us?

I'm going to be calling around to mechanics and dealers tomorrow to get quotes for doing just that. It's gonna be expensive - several hundred bucks. Sorry :(

I'll let you know what I come up with prices.

It won't be nearly as bad for him... you don't have to touch the timing chain on the 2.3, so it's only a fraction of the labor.

[Twista89]

yea I just got my lowest quote just to get the water pump replaced would be 300 for me thank god so Im going to take that price and hope nothing else is damaged. Im about to go get the car towed to the shop and let it thaw out while they work on it and ask them to look for any more damage hopefully there isnt much.

[rixGAphx]

There was ICE in your radiator???

I don't doubt that it's now getting cold enough in Chicago for water in a cooling system to freeze, especially if left for several days (rather than just overnight).

But anti-freeze, in even a 'weak' 25-75 mixture with water, provides absolute protection down to about [edit] 10*F. 33-67 protects to -0-*F.
See http://www.peakantifreeze.com/images/art_protection_chart.jpg for protection table for 'Sierra' brand of eco-friendly propylene glycol antifreeze, which provides <about> the same protection as ethylene glycol AF's.
There's no 'chemical reaction' that takes place when water is mixed with antifreeze (either 'conventional ' green stuff or 'extended life' orange stuff).
The two merely dissolve with each other, and NEVER separate.
[edit] The 'chemical reaction' that occurs when AF is added to a system is between the AF's additives and the metals in the cooling system that you are trying to protect agains corrosion.

IF it froze, then you did NOT have any appreciable quantity/concentration of antifreeze.
Unless your old cooling system is so extremely clogged-up that you had no flow at all from the waterpump (or a t-stat stuck closed).
So plain water remained in your radiator, and the antifreeze only mixed in the reservoir and hoses near it. Then it was the plain water that froze, at 32*F.

You say the coolant wasn't old, "only in the system a couple months."
Who added the coolant, and how much??
Should have used about a gallon jug of concentrated antifreeze, mixed 1-for-1 with purified ('distilled') water; this would give about a 50-50 mix.
Most mechanics add the 1 gallon of AF straight into the reservoir, then fill the remainder of the system with water.

You can also buy gallon jugs of pre-mixed, ready-to-use coolant wich is already 50-50.
If this stuff is then mistakenly mixed with water, the net concentration would be about 25-75, which would indeed have frozen if very low temps had been reached.

The only solution to thawing the stuff is heat, and you do NOT want to use flame or electric barbecue starters or other ch!t like that.
A basic hair blow dryer is a viable tool, though.

Good luck,
-Rick

PS: And the entire system needs to be well-checked out by a qualified mechanic.
If water had frozen in the cast iron block or cast aluminum head, it may well have cracked that metal. Game over.
'Freeze plugs' offer only the meagerest protection against damage.

And the radiator itself could well have cracked, or the heater core.

[Twista89]

Yea I think the radiator cracked also...Im having the car checked out now and they said they will get back to me on what is damaged. Im really thinking that you are right about it beng clogged up and the frozen water was just in the resivor ad radiator hoses because I only had the car on for a second and when the water pump broke coolant was leaking and it didnt even look frozen so Im guessing the engine block was still a little bit warmer than everything else.

The coolant was put it by a mechanic that my mom knows and trust + I bought the coolat myself from autozone (50/50) and he put it in when I was getting my radator fixed from the first time it cracked.

[Igor Gavric]

That vehicle should have gone back to that mechanic, and it should have been checked out by him. Since this is a related problem, he should have examined the system himself, and if he was a "good mechanic" (good luck finding them as they are hard to find, at least in my area), he would have admited to at fault, and fixed it free of charge.

[Twista89]

Well that would have been a big risk because I dont stay in the city where that mechanic lives anymore and getting it towed all the way back there would have cost as much as it is to get it fixed so its not really important anymore....I just want my car back :mad: :bawl:

[sudden_impulse]

Seriously... what is that... 4-5 of us?

Might have to make that 5-6 of us, depending on what is wrong with mine :(

[Matt95GT]

Might have to make that 5-6 of us, depending on what is wrong with mine :(

You don't have a 2.3/2.4 water pump though. You have a 3400, which sadly, is almost guaranteed to have a LIM gasket failure. I recommend reading up on the LIM diagnosis threads to determine the source of your leak.

[Twista89]

Well just got my car back today and they said nothing else was wrong with it...thank you jesus lol....still runs like a tank to I dont think Imma ever get rid of this car lol.

[bballr4567]

How much did it run ya??

[Twista89]

Total of 319 which aint bad since I was getting quotes of 450 everywhere else around here.

[bballr4567]

Not too bad at all man.

BTW what is your avator?? I have no idea. lol

[Twista89]

Oh I took a picture of my rear speaker while it was playing with my camera phone and since it sucks it showed waves instead of the speaker just moving up and down lol...looked cool in action lol

[bballr4567]

OHHHHHH I can see it now. LMAO

Nice pic.

[Matt95GT]

Nice... not bad on the price.

Now... if I ever have time to fix mine. :(

[jonnythan]

Nice. Lucky you with the water pump that doesn't have the gear built into it ;)

The weather here has been super super cold with freezing rain and snow, so no chance I'd replace it myself. Dealer wanted $750 + tax, local mechanic said anything under $1000 is good.

Found another mechanic with a small shop that my friend knows pretty well and trusts. Said around $600 all said and done.. just called with the quote. $586. Will be done tomorrow.

W00t.