Faulty waterpump?

[audiquattrot]

I was driving back from the Bav Auto show on Sunday (7hr drive), and about 30mins into the ride, the coolant light comes up. Car was driving funky and intermitently shaking the steering wheel like an unbalanced wheel would but it was on/off. Had a similar feel last year when my fan blades exploded.

Had to keep refilling coolant/water for the entire 7hr ride, every 30 miles.

Get home, and took a peek underneath and the leak was coming from the center front right around the water pump area. I checked all the coolant hoses, and everything was tight.

Yesterday i left the car idling for 10-15mins and no puddle or drip. I did notice there was a slight screeching sound coming from the fan, but thats pretty much brand new too.

I did a whole cooling overhaul & timing belt change 2yrs ago, with all new hoses, clamps, waterpump and belts.....do water pumps fail this often? Not sure what else to check. Temp levels are all normal and no weird flucuations or spikes....

[audiquattrot]

do you guys think there is a connection with the shakiness in the steering to a potentially bad waterpump?

I've been trying to chase the weird intermitent vibration for a while now.....hoping its that

[jeffnhiscars]

I can't imagine how a waster pump could impact your steering wheel but yes, it's totally possible for a pump to leak after 2 years. The screech could be a slipping belt from being wet.

Obvious question is what brand pump was it ? Since you meantion BavAuto, I actually returned a water pump I had bought from them cause I didn't care for the quality of the castings. They also don't tell you the brand of pretty much anything you buy from them so caveat emptor

[audiquattrot]

I can't imagine how a waster pump could impact your steering wheel but yes, it's totally possible for a pump to leak after 2 years. The screech could be a slipping belt from being wet.

Obvious question is what brand pump was it ? Since you meantion BavAuto, I actually returned a water pump I had bought from them cause I didn't care for the quality of the castings. They also don't tell you the brand of pretty much anything you buy from them so caveat emptor

i was thinking since i had an issue w/ the fan last year (the blades nicked on something and the severed off), i was guessing maybe there is a lot of play with the water pump since it spins on the same pulley. I remember when that happened, the car had a similar vibration shortly before the blades snapped off.

Which Bav Auto waterpump did you end up returning? funny enough i was gonna order a new one from them since i won a $100 gift certicate w/ them on Sunday. I'm not sure which waterpump i had in there, but i think it wasnt an OEM one which I had ordered from blunt.

[AndrewBird]

Take the belt off and wiggle the water pump pulley side to side. There should be no play. If there is, you need a new water pump.

An extra tight belt can cause excessive wear on the bushings in the water pump. Could be the cause of your premature failure.

[audiquattrot]

Take the belt off and wiggle the water pump pulley side to side. There should be no play. If there is, you need a new water pump.

An extra tight belt can cause excessive wear on the bushings in the water pump. Could be the cause of your premature failure.

i'll def check this out. thanks for the tips!

[jeffnhiscars]

If you did not replace the broken fan that could very easily cause a premature water pump failure. I missing blade will throw it out of balance.

No clue what pump I sent back but I've used Graf and Lazo pumps with good results and I'm sure whatever you got from Blunt was penis tested.

[audiquattrot]

If you did not replace the broken fan that could very easily cause a premature water pump failure. I missing blade will throw it out of balance.

No clue what pump I sent back but I've used Graf and Lazo pumps with good results and I'm sure whatever you got from Blunt was penis tested.

I replaced the fan w a new oem one back then. When one blade broke I felt how unbalanced it was.