How Can You Check That Your Water Pump Is Working?

[Mid_Nite_R33]

As topic says, how dio you check the the water pump is alive on an R33 gtst?

[89CAL]

I think if your car is cold, you can take your radiator cap off and start the car then wait till the thermostat opens and see if theres water flowing through the radiator

I think thats the easiest way to do it

[Kinks]

^^ as above. you can also look into the radiator core from above and see if it looks blocked.

if you are having overheating problems it's most likely to be the radiator or the pump. if the top hose is hot and the bottom hose is cold it could be the pump, if both hoses are quite warm then you have a blocked radiator.

[mad082]

6 things can cause overheating issues

1: water pump

2: thermostat

3: blocked radiator

4: head gasket

5: air in the system

6: clutch fan not working

one of the easiest to tell is probably the thermostat. if the car takes more than a few kms of driving for the water temp to reach normal (halfway on the gauge) then the thermostat is shot. however sometimes it can do this but not open enough and therefor cause overheating. another way to check is to go for a drive then after about 20 mins to half an hour pull up and touch both radiator hoses. the lower hose should be a bit cooler than the top hose. if the lower hose is much cooler (is pretty cold) than the thermostat is stuffed.

the clutch fan is also very easy to tell if it's stuffed. you will only get the overheating issue in traffic. if you drive along a motorway where you can get a decent amount of air flowing through the radiator then temp will drop. however this can sometimes also be what happens with a dodgy thermostat.

you can't really tell if the radiator is blocked without getting it professionally looked at.

the water pump you can tell if it is pumping, but you can't really tell whether it is pumping enough. at higher rpm it may be cavitating and not pumping much at all. i had this happen with my outboard on my boat.

headgaset is the worse case scenario and is sometimes diagnosed by oil in the water and vice versa, but not always. another way is by bubbles in the coolant.

air in the system usually sorts itself out, however bleeding the system can help. it is probably the least likely.

[Mid_Nite_R33]

thanks for the help guys,

here ios the story,

Car suddenly ran out of coolant due to poor maintenance of the coolant, the radiator inside looked blocked and had very brown filthy coolant in it, was horrible, i flushed it as much as i could and filled it up and was ok for a few weeks, now whenever the car warms up it overheats badly and it steams from the top radiator hose mailnly but the bottom hose is quite warm also..

now:

-I have checked the thermostat and its fine, however when i pulled out the thermostat behind it (in the block) was nice an green coolant, everything before coolant enters the block which is the top/bottom radiator hoses + radiator had filthy brown shit in it, that should mean something right? however the thermo opens up fine, i tested it in boiling water :S

-clutch fan seems ok

So far I have taken off the old radiator and got a new one ready here, I have flushed the block via the heater hoses and took off the coolant reservoir bottle and gave it a clean (had brown shit in it too)

Anything else i can do? should i install the new radiator and see what happens?

If its the water pump im just gona give it to the mechanic to do.

much appreciated guys !

[Mid_Nite_R33]

I just had a feel of the brown water and its quite greasy, perhaps it is oil in the coolant, so therefore f**ked headgasket? does that make sence with the perfectly green collant inside the block?

[mad082]

if it boiled itself and ran dry then it may have warped the head and blown a headgasket. definately check the oil for signs of coolant (will be all milky white like a milkshake).

the big question is, what caused it to lose all the coolant in the first place? lack of maintenance isn't really an issue as it should all still be in the system unless there is a leak somewhere.

brown coolant is often a sign that it has boiled and needs replacing, but generally there are other side affects that go with boiling the coolant (for example a blown headgasket).

[Mid_Nite_R33]

if it boiled itself and ran dry then it may have warped the head and blown a headgasket. definately check the oil for signs of coolant (will be all milky white like a milkshake).

the big question is, what caused it to lose all the coolant in the first place? lack of maintenance isn't really an issue as it should all still be in the system unless there is a leak somewhere.

brown coolant is often a sign that it has boiled and needs replacing, but generally there are other side affects that go with boiling the coolant (for example a blown headgasket).

I check the engine oil and its brown-black, no moisture under the cap, also same colour on the stick.

I went down to the local radiator joint and explained the situation, the guy rekons to clean ev erything and try my new radiator on....

I have just washed out and cleaned the coolant resovoir bottle and the connecting hoses and as I was washing my driveway from the brown crap i saw that rainbow effect reflecting in the water as u see in fuel, so fuel contamination, is it possible?

[mad082]

if there is fuel in it (although it will most likely actually be oil as that's what gives it that rainbow effect) then there is a chance it's the head gasket. however it may have had the head gasket let go in the past and that is just residue from that and isn't related to the current issue.

[SWITZER]

Buy the sounds of the state of you cooling system i would be replacing the pump ive come across a few 32's and 33's that have had the same brown muck in the cooling system (lack of maintenance) and have had cooling issuse after a cooling system flush and when the water pump was removed there was no blades left on the impeller

[Mid_Nite_R33]

if there is fuel in it (although it will most likely actually be oil as that's what gives it that rainbow effect) then there is a chance it's the head gasket. however it may have had the head gasket let go in the past and that is just residue from that and isn't related to the current issue.

its possibly just residue coz after all the flushing etc this is the first time i noticed the rainbow thing, oil in the engine is black not milky at all, also this whole issue may due to poor coolant maintenance because when u flush a torch inside the water manifold where the top radiator hose goes its all covered in brown paste/resdue which must be corrosion and that doesnt happen overnight does it? this means that internally the engine would likely to look the same which is a unfixable isnt it?

[Mid_Nite_R33]

Buy the sounds of the state of you cooling system i would be replacing the pump ive come across a few 32's and 33's that have had the same brown muck in the cooling system (lack of maintenance) and have had cooling issuse after a cooling system flush and when the water pump was removed there was no blades left on the impeller

Yeah im leaning towards this, im hoping the thermo was stuck andn ot letting any water to circulate or the pump is weak/corroded just like the rest of the components... if i replace the water pump what else should be changed while im at it?

Sorry a million questions but im learning

cheers

[SWITZER]

I wouldnt replace your radiator if its not leaking just get cleaned out by a radiator shop cause most likely it will have some sort of blockage and if your thermostat is opening in boiling water it should be fine to, maybe check all your hoses for signs of detiorations while the cooling system is drained and replace them at the same time instead of filling it with new coolant and down the track having to replace a blown or leaking hose and then having to refill the cooling system with new coolant again. But i would definately be doing the pump its most likely got little to no blades left on it due to corosion

[mad082]

Yeah im leaning towards this, im hoping the thermo was stuck andn ot letting any water to circulate or the pump is weak/corroded just like the rest of the components... if i replace the water pump what else should be changed while im at it?

Sorry a million questions but im learning

cheers

just do the pump and thermostat. would probably look at either getting the radiator professionally cleaned or a cheap alloy one. depending on how many kms the engine has, it may be worth getting the timing belt done at the same time if it is going to need doing shortly.

I wouldnt replace your radiator if its not leaking just get cleaned out by a radiator shop cause most likely it will have some sort of blockage and if your thermostat is opening in boiling water it should be fine to, maybe check all your hoses for signs of detiorations while the cooling system is drained and replace them at the same time instead of filling it with new coolant and down the track having to replace a blown or leaking hose and then having to refill the cooling system with new coolant again. But i would definately be doing the pump its most likely got little to no blades left on it due to corosion

sometimes it is cheaper to get a new radiator than it is to get flushed.