Bad waterpump? (2yrs old)

[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

[Eskie]

Shakiness could be from the water pump shaft blowing out because the fan is connected to it. It could also be leaking coolant from the shaft. Is it leaking from the outer edges of the pump or in the middle?

[audiquattrot]

Shakiness could be from the water pump shaft blowing out because the fan is connected to it. It could also be leaking coolant from the shaft. Is it leaking from the outer edges of the pump or in the middle?

its really hard for me to tell b/c the car is now in my garage....and when i turn it on at idle nothing leaks. I think it only seems to leak after a long drive (then it gushes) from all the vibration.

[flyboyx]

water pumps don't normally fail at the 2 year mark. however, they are sometimes faulty. did you buy the one with the plastic impeller?

[Cayoncrusier93]

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....

Try revving the engine, I had a coolant leak that only showed up when my motor was under load. When idling it was fine.

[rcsoundn1]

I just overhauled my cooling system. I had a noise bad, front and center of the motor at the fan. It was the tensioner. It promptly went bad again in 2wks. Same exact noise. Only made the noise when warm. I used coolant as well, but that was a separate issue.