The water pump is the secret savior of your car. In an ideal world, the water pump would be an indestructible piece of machinery that never breaks. Of course, that would be preferable with every car part, but especially in this case does it feel so within reach that you water pump be immortal. Water pumps rarely just break.
It is for this reason that it can be hard to tell if your water pump is having issues. After all, not everyone even knows that there is a water pump in their car to begin with. So, here are some ways to know in advance that your car’s water pump has gone bad. This way you can fix it before the problem gets worse.
Your Car is Overheating
This is both the most frequent sign of trouble as well as the most damaging one. The water pump is, after all, the part of your car’s innards that handles the movement of coolant throughout it. So, if the water pump is having issues, you will begin to overheat. This overheating might not always be obvious though.
When your car overheats it will rarely present itself in a straightforward manner. You will not find yourself baking in the car’s cabin. Your heater might be more hot than usual, but overheats usually happen in the summer, when you never have the heater on.
The most feedback you will get most of the time is your engine temperature light being on. This light looks like a little thermometer. If this light comes on, get to the mechanic right away. You do not want to mess with it.
Your Coolant is Leaking
This is another sneaky one. The trouble is that cars have a lot of fluids they can leak. Gas, oil, water, and coolant are all
This is another sneaky one. The trouble is that cars have a lot of fluids they can leak. Gas, oil, water, and coolant are all different fluids, and they can all leak from your car. Even worse, water can leak out completely harmlessly. Water can leak from your exhaust simply because of the way condensation works.
In this case, it will look like water, but it will form a more noticeable puddle underneath your car. Basically, the difference between water leaking from your car normally and coolant fluid leaking from your car due to a bad water pump is the amount of liquid left over. If it looks like your car peed and you cannot smell oil, this is why.
Your Engine is Whining
Yet again, this is a problem you can face due to a number of reasons. As with everything on this list though, the trick is separating the reasons for whining noises from each other. Whining noises can happen due to a need for an oil change, certain parts being eroded, and several other reasons.
But you can tell it is a matter of a broken water pump is that the sound will be frequent and sound similar to a buzzing noise. Many whining noises from under your car’s hood will happen during acceleration and deceleration. This sound will happen rhythmically in basically any situation.
If you are worried about your water pump, feel free to stop by RPM Automotive to have it looked at. And of course, do this as soon as you can if your engine is outright overheating.