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About LinkBacksits doesnt need to be completely separated to not work effectively.
aside from the leak, bearing noise, what is the over heating problem? is it just on the gauge, is it boiling over? when does it happen? etc..
its doesnt need to be completely separated to not work effectively.
aside from the leak, bearing noise, what is the over heating problem? is it just on the gauge, is it boiling over? when does it happen? etc..
My wife said while driving to work the other day on the highway cruising at 60 mph (about 50-60 deg F out) the gauge got up to about 3/4 way. It normally is at just above half way. She said it happened to and from work.
The car has been getting hot like that for a while now due to it leaking coolant (which I now think is from the water pump vent/weep hole) and she wasn't topping it off but maybe once a week or two weeks and it'd get low then get hot. I don't believe it's ever got above 3/4 though. When the coolant would get low she said it'd get up to 3/4 when stopped at a light or something, then when moving it'd cool down to half rapidly. I think this was because it was low on fluid and air was in the system.
Well now the coolant is full and it's getting hot on the highway so I think the water pump is bad. Plus there's the noise and the leak in that area.
Well i would certainly address the water pump as a "primary" issue. But the original issue of getting hot while stopped sounds like the fans/fan relay need to be verified they are in working order, as well as that the system was properly purged of air and that the correct coolant has been used throughout.
No sorry I think I'm confusing the issue....
The fans do work.
The reason the car was getting hot while stopped was because she'd let it get low on coolant (letting it leak for a week or two without checking it) so it was very low and air got in the system. Then once it'd almost overheat she'd fill up the coolant and the cycle would repeat every week or two. Just laziness on checking it is all. I couldn't pinpoint the leak, I though it was the water pump gasket, but now think it's the weep/vent hole in the pump. I actually replaced the gasket again a few weekends ago.
The new issue is that it gets hot while cruising and full of coolant. I don't believe coolant is circulating. So I'm thinking water pump(especially because of the noise and leak in that area which I now realize is most likely the weep/vent hole). Also it could be tstat (only about 10k miles old) or a clog (doubt this).
Does this all sound logical?
The replacement pump I put in just looked cheap, it came with the gates timing belt kit. I believe the impeller was plastic. Just looked and felt cheap compared to the oem one. I believe it was from china or something.
To me it sounds like you should replace the water pump, flush the whole system and then if the problem is still there, address it here.
Well I guess I'm getting good at this, just changed the water pump with a new one from autozone (duralast brand) for $60. New gasket also. Took 3 hours from the time I opened the garage till closed the garage. All I have to do is put the serpentine belt on, fill with coolant, put airbox on, and put wheel/tire on. Maybe 30 min of work. We will see if this fixes it. I'm thinking while it's empty I oughta just replace the tstat and housing ($27) because I know it's leaking anyway...
Oh and the old pump didn't really appear to be broken in any way. It was definitely not as smooth to spin as the new one (or the original for that matter).
Finished it up and bought another new tstat and housing as well. The grinding/bearing noise is 100% gone (water pump), and there does not appear to be any leaking. Car did not overheat tonight on about 3 20 minute drives. Sat at autozone with AC on idling for at least 10 min (wife in car). No issues, appears to be good
So the culprit was a failed water pump (cheap part, less than 10k miles on it). Came with the gates timing belt kit. Also, the tstat housing was machined poorly, and wouldn't completely seal. I'll post pics of that later...
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