What are the signs of a failing waterpump? I have a 2000 chevy blazer and I think I have a failing waterpump. info from anyone would be helpful!

 

my water pump recently went out on me and i experienced the belt squealing and then the temp rising because my coolant was spilling out behind the fan. it only took about an hour and a half to change it from start to finish. my blazer is a 91 model and it was fairly easy accessed. i guess the the things to look for are noises and temps. if the water pump quits pumping coolant thru then it will get hot.

 

"I have an 01 and I still have the petcock on mine."



I have the 2002 4.3 and it's still there also.

 

What are the symptoms of a failing water pump when there is no overheating? I have a belt that is making a bit of noise when the car is cold and a shaking belt tensioner. Both plus the idler pulley are new. Normally, the temps don't go above the notch below 210. Rarely does it even get to 210. I am not getting any water pump play when I take the belt off (very little coming from the fan clutch, but not from the pump itself) and I do not seem to be losing coolant. It spins freely also. Could I have a pump starting to go bad?

 

Good post, it was better than my manual. I just said "remove the fan and clutch", not how. Thanks

 

Mine started leaking. There is a little hole on the front part of it that leaks coolant once the seals get bad. That was the only symptom I got from mine when it went bad.

 

Where is this hole? Under the pump? So no leak, no play in the waterpump itself and no overheating = good pump? If there is an antifreeze leak anywhere, wouldn't it smell like it? I had a blown radiator and old radiator hoses when we bought this truck (overheated on the way home from the dealer. Steam coming from the 4" gash in the radiator tank) and we could smell antifreeze coming from somewhere.

 

I drove mine for a year with it leaking out the pump. It seeps out and forms a puddle under the front end. You can also feel under the water pump after running it a little. I could also see coolant leaking down the front of the engine. I'll put some pictures on here to show you the hole I mean. It didn't leak out enough to cause an odor, and didn't cause any overheating. It always ran too cool. If you can still smell antifreeze after ruling out everything under the hood, check you heater core. I had a mid 80s Cutlass blow one, the windshield would steam up and the inside smelled like coolant. It was pretty obvious what had happened in that case.

 

A puddle? Wow. That must have cost alot for antifreeze just to keep it topped up. The only thing my car leaks that is noticeable by looking at the garage floor is a bit of oil from the rear main seal (I don't even notice a difference on the dipstick most of the time. I maybe have to add 1 pint of oil between oil changes to keep it topped up), so that is good news in this case. It does not burn oil. I do not notice any coolant level change in either the radiator or the overflow tank. I also remove the radiator cap and it is always full. Overflow tank is always ABOVE the full mark, but the only time I have had it go out the overflow is when I overfilled it once after the last coolant change (guy didn't fill it all the way). I have 98,300 miles on mine. How many miles is the average life for these pumps? The next coolant change is at 104,000 (I switched to Prestone last year and had a new thermostat put in). Should I consider another pump at that time? Thanks for the tip.

 

The cost of antifreeze was the biggest reason I changed the pump. In the summer I just used filtered water with 20% cheap antifreeze. I don't know how long it would have kept running with leaking pump. As far as expected lifespan for those, my Blazer is a couple hundred miles shy of 250,000, and that's the first thing I've had to change under the hood other than routine maintained (spark plugs etc.) since I bought it in March '07. I don't know if it's the original the casting shows 5077-11 ATF if that means anything to anyone.