ok besides my turn indicator problems now i have a real problem (lookat my pictures) this evening after driving about 15 minutes i parked my 96 jimmy 2wd in mydriveway later i took out the trash and noticed a river coming from under my car. i popped the hood and checked for coolantonlyto see a bone dry resivoir i crawled under to take a look and saw that the fluid was coming from above the oil pan area. Haynes guide leads me to believe that i have a bad water pump. i called my mechanic and he said put water in the resivoir and in the radiator and instead of tightening the cap just put it to the first click so pressure can escape so that the leak at the pump does not become worse and bring it to him ASAP. any ideas?

 

"Above the oil pan area" is a little too general. If you could take a look and see where the coolant starts its escape from we could probably give you more help. Generally, water pumps don't go all at once, but begin with a slow leak that gradually gets worse. Then again, sudden failure is a possibility.

 

Bad waterpump or gasket, my gasket went out 1 day after my motor rebuild so it was fixed, then exacly one month later the pump went out, so they replaced that also. the way you describe it, it sounds like the water pump.

 

i took it to my mechanic and his words were "the seal is gone" he said he has done this for 30 years and had never seen a water pump leak like that. on my drive to his shop 10 miles away consisted of 4 gallons of water and 4 stops to add it but it made it without ever getting to hot. he said he can replace the seal for just as much as the whole pump.

 

Like I said, prettyunusual for it to have a catastrophic failure like that. If it will cost the same, definitely have the pump replaced.

 

I would definitely replace the whole pump - even if it costs a few dollars more. There's a bearing in there that has seen 12 year's worth of wear (if the pump is original). It's too much work to not have everything fresh when the job is done.