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Water pumps almost always work, until the seal starts to leak. They will still work, but you will have a leak that will get worse over time. You will notice a coolant leak under the car, right about even with the windshield, about even between left to right. If you see that happen you should be able to confirm by standing on the passenger side of the car, hood open, easiest at night, bright flashlight, look at the front of the engine (it's the part where the belts are - right against the firewall) and you should be able to see all of the belts, the twin belts that run from the crank pulley to the water pump to the alternator, and then back are the ones you are looking for... if your water pump is leaking you should be able to see nice green (or purple or orange - what color do you use?) puddles sitting on several of the little alcoves of metal on the engine in proximity to the water pump.
If you don't already have the Bentley manual strongly suggest getting it. The water pump is not too difficult to do, especially if you flip the AC compressor out of the way.
Now with all that said.
Let's trouble shoot overheating.
1) the fans should *not* need run when at moderate speed on a road. 45 mph or so crusing down the road and the fans should be off. If they are on, the good news is they and the thermoswitch are working, bad news is you either are low on coolant, your thermostat is bad (but this will be a fast cycle to overheating on the gauge), or more likely your radiator is clogged and not doing a good job of cooling the fluid.
2) to test the thermofan switch on the upper radiator hose, push the boots back so that you can see the connectors covering the blades in the switch, (this is the easiest way) then stick a screwdriver between the contacts and lever so that it touchs both contacts. If the ignition is in the run position the fans should be on. Engine does not need to be running, just key in on position. If only the passengers side is on it just means the TSB (technical service bulletin) has not been done to run both fans, or the drivers side is bad. If your AC works, push the button and the drivers side fan should run. If the AC clutch engages (you will hear it - "click" - and the pully on the compressor will turn) that fan should turn on, and depending upon the TSB status both fans may run. If the AC compressor does not engage it most likely will not run the fan, there is a low pressure circuit to protect the compressor from pumping when low/empty of cold stuff. This is good.
3) to test the system at home in the driveway, get a blanket or beach towel, with the hood closed, start the car and let it idle, put the blanket over the intake to block air, and wait until the car warms up. at about the 50% sweep in the gauge (turbo and n/a are oriented differently so I can't say "9 o'clock position") the fans should come on, at *least* one of them. If the temperature climbs above 80% and no fans then either you have a problem in the fans system (yep, duh...) or the thermostat is not allowing water into the radiator. Feel the upper hose on the end closer to the radiator, do this carefully, it should be too hot to touch. If it's cool or not real hot suspect the thermostat. However if the fan or fans come on, and you are still idling, and the temperature continues to climb to 80% or so... you most likely have a thermostat problem. Remember that you are idling so the load is very light. even a poorly functioning radiator will cool a little, given a chance! It should not get from warm to hot really fast unless the water is not getting into the radiator (which is a bad thermostat). *** IN EITHER CASE SHUT THE ENGINE OFF ***.
4) Another symptom is if you can influence the temp gauge by driving between 45 and 65 or so, and it get's warmer as you drive faster, and get's cooler (ok - less warm...) when you slow down... Almost like the temp gauge was controlled by the speedometer (faster is hotter, slower is cooler) the radiator is bad. Yep, it's always the butler... the butler did it.
Basically, unless you are leaking coolant somewhere, water pump, or a hose, then the two places are the thermostat or the radiator. The thermostat will make things very hot very fast. The radiator will just toy with you, you can nurse it along by going slower or keeping the load down. We all want to replace the thermostat, it's easier and cheaper, but the butler is going to win...
Now, all of this assumes that the belts are in place and turning the water pump.
Now for my sage advice:
Remember, if the battery light comes on while you are driving, and the temperature starts to climb soon after. Unless you have about $1200-$1600 for a head gasket job, and another car to drive while someone is doing that for you, and have a great tow option on your insurance... PULL OVER RIGHT AWAY. like RIGHT NOW. Treat it like you are running out of gas right now and have to get off the freeway and all that jazz. You may think you can "make it" to where ever you are going, or to a better place to stop, but you can't. It just won't happen. Don't go there.
, Sat, 4 Nov 2006 22:35:00
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