Catastrophic water pump failure

[Jimmy9190]

I have a question here. Those of you who have had a water pump fail, did it just up and quit while driving and blow coolant all over your engine, shred the serpentine belt and wrap it around the pulley, causing a loss of power steering and generally scaring you to death? Or did it just die a little at a time with plenty of warning from bearing noise and leaks from the weep hole, so you had time to prepare for it, get it home and fix it at your leisure? I ask this because I read today online about a water pump failing all of a sudden like that and causing much havoc under the hood of another Dakota owner's truck. My own truck has 142K on it now, and still has its original water pump. I have no idea how long it may last. If catastrophic failure while driving is a distinct possibility I will just replace it now rather than later. Sorry for such a hypothetical post here. Thanks for your help on it.

 

[SuperDave456]

Mine all die slowly. Although my knowledge of Dodge/Chrysler vehicles is that when something goes bad it goes bad FAST on them.

 

[brentalan]

Two years ago my '88 Chevy Caprice started leaking out of the weep hole and there was no catastrophic failure. [censored] GM....original water pump only lasted 20 years :P

 

[qdeezie]

I've always had weeping. However, if it concerns you, go ahead and replace it as a part of preventative maintenance. Usually, when I buy a vehicle I replace upfront it because it's cheap.

 

[Chris142]

They usually start leaking or wobbling from worn bearings long before they explode.

 

[pair of Blazers]

I had my OE pump on the 91 fail like that. thank God I wasn't on a highway when it failed. no real warning that I noticed. took out the radiator, w/p pulley, crank pulley, upper hose and the belt. so yes it can happen.

 

[Jimmy9190]

Yeah I have also heard of a blown water pump sending shrapnel through the timing chain cover, pretty much ruining the engine. When the water pump gave out on my old '81 Celica way back in the late 80's it blew the radiator hose off of it, slamming it into the bottom of the hood. Didn't make any dents but was real loud like a gunshot. And it happened late at night on a dark country road too. Spooky stuff. Thanks for the replies.

 

[Bob Woods]

If your talking about an overhead cam engine then it can lead to a total failure of the engine. If your waterpump is driven by the same belt that drives the camshaft then when the pump fails it can lead to the cam shaft/crank shaft going out of sync and damage to the engine because the pistons and valves colide. However if your talking about overhead valve engine then if the water pump fails you may get an coolant over heat warning and the belt may squeal,or the water pump bearing may whine like a jet engine on takeoff, but normally you don't get total engine meltdown.

 

[tomcat27]

most leak first. if you are gonna replace your water pump on the Dodge 3.9, it's probably also a good idea to replace the timing chain. The 3.9 is 3/4 of the 5.2, so its a very durable engine - but the timing gears and chain do wear on that engine. some of them actually rattle. ok, I got one used with only 65k on it and the chain was already rattling.

 

[Michael_P]

I worked on a Taurus back in the summer. The ball bearings had blown out. The outers went on the street and the inners went in the engine cooling system . A complete flush popped them all out. The impeller had worn the housing almost all the way through. The previous mechanic diagnosed the noise they were hearing as a PS pump. No major damage. Most OHC engines do not run the water pump off the timing belt these days. Even the Japanese are veering away from this. But if you do have one of these engines, it is wise to change the water pump at the same time as the timing belt. Good advice Bob.

 

[flacoman]

I've always had the impeller fail by disconnecting from the shaft {knurled shaft , molded on impeller}. No leaks ,but no water either! Nissan KA24 , Ford Duratec , VW 1.8t, Toyota 3-FSE . The Toyota & VW got timing belt and tensioners while it was apart.

 

[Nick R]

Originally Posted By: Michael_P

I worked on a Taurus back in the summer. The ball bearings had blown out. The outers went on the street and the inners went in the engine cooling system . A complete flush popped them all out. The impeller had worn the housing almost all the way through. The previous mechanic diagnosed the noise they were hearing as a PS pump. No major damage. Most OHC engines do not run the water pump off the timing belt these days. Even the Japanese are veering away from this. But if you do have one of these engines, it is wise to change the water pump at the same time as the timing belt. Good advice Bob.

Water pumps use ball bearings? Thought they used sleeve bearings?

 

[bigmike]

I've yet to have a water pump fail. I've gone over 200k miles on several vehicles w/o changing a water pump. But, I've done a few replacements as routine maintenance on other vehicles.

 

[defektes]

I had one carastrophic wp failure. In my 1994 pontiac sunbird, was driving home from classes and bam smoke and it started overheating, I threw the heater on max and found a safe place to pull over. I poured some water in it and could see it leak from under the WP.

 

[SLCraig]

I have only ever replaced 1 water pump on one of my own cars, and it was on my 96 SL2. It died slowly, leaking worse and worse until it one day leaked too much to realistically use the car. I did once though have my GF at the time's 97 Neon DOHC water pump blow up and skip a tooth on the timing at the same time. (timing driven) that was a fairly big water pump change job. (New timing belt too)

 

[Jakegday]

my 98 cavalier had a weep hole that started leaking slowly when it was starting to go out. lots of new water pumps have this "feature". my 86 plymouth reliant on the other hand, just started making a horrible loud noise and started pouring out coolant the same second. the cooling system was drained in about 10 seconds, and i have no idea how i got this lucky, but it all happened within a block from my house, on my way home.

 

[meep]

our 02 mdx has 82,000 or so. can't see the pump, but i think it's just started. can smell it. slight fluid loss. saving for the whole TB+pump shebang. don't think I'll do this one myself. M

 

[rslifkin]

When the one on my Jeep went, it started leaking, albeit notably and suddenly. It was fine, no coolant loss up until the point of failure. I noticed it when I parked it, looked at the Jeep about 5 mins later to see a puddle of coolant forming under the engine. I limped it home with no issue (about 2.5 miles). When I had it parked at home before the failure, it was warm from driving around during the day, and hadn't been leaking a drop. It did trash the serp belt though, as it was dripping right on the crank pulley, and I couldn't get the belt to stop squealing in humid or rainy weather after that (it had absorbed some coolant), so I replaced it. I've seen the one on a 94 Camry 2.2 fail suddenly in a cloud of steam and smoke with no prior warning, although no damage was done, and nothing blew apart. My mom's old 95 Grand Cherokee 4.0 lost 2 water pumps, one started leaking kinda slowly, she noticed the coolant dropping. The other one failed pretty much the same way mine did, although she was arriving home when it failed.

 

[Jimmy9190]

Originally Posted By: rslifkin

When the one on my Jeep went, it started leaking, albeit notably and suddenly. It was fine, no coolant loss up until the point of failure. I noticed it when I parked it, looked at the Jeep about 5 mins later to see a puddle of coolant forming under the engine. I limped it home with no issue (about 2.5 miles). When I had it parked at home before the failure, it was warm from driving around during the day, and hadn't been leaking a drop. It did trash the serp belt though, as it was dripping right on the crank pulley, and I couldn't get the belt to stop squealing in humid or rainy weather after that (it had absorbed some coolant), so I replaced it. I've seen the one on a 94 Camry 2.2 fail suddenly in a cloud of steam and smoke with no prior warning, although no damage was done, and nothing blew apart. My mom's old 95 Grand Cherokee 4.0 lost 2 water pumps, one started leaking kinda slowly, she noticed the coolant dropping. The other one failed pretty much the same way mine did, although she was arriving home when it failed.

Just wondering on these and the others that failed, what was the mileage and/or age of the pump when it went? I am trying to follow the old "if it ain't broke don't fix it" idea but like I said earlier, I have 142K on my original water pump, and it's 11 years old now. The coolant has been changed 3 times in the last 100K, maybe the pump is still in good shape. But I have no way to know how long it will last. I know it won't last forever. I don't have any leaks or coolant loss but with 142K on an original pump I have been thinking about R&R'ing the pump just to be on the safe side. Thanks for all the help and replies on this. I appreciate it.

 

[97f150]

If it makes you feel more comfortable, go ahead and replace it. The one on my Ram cost $60 give or take, so I cant imagine yours too much. Its better money spent for peace of mind, cause if it does go kaboom, its more money spent. Of course, you can possibly have the replacement pump fail catastrophically as well.