The easiest way to tell if a car’s water pump needs replaced is to check for leaks. Park your car on a flat surface and place a piece of clean cardboard directly underneath the motor. Let the car sit overnight and then examine the cardboard. If the cardboard is wet , you likely have a leak somewhere in the motor. Coolant leak at the front-center of your car.
Eventually, these gaskets and seals will wear out, dry up, crack or break entirely. Operated by the drive belt, blades on the pump allow coolant to flow into the engine. Some are outside of the engine and fairly easy to replace.
Most frequently, the water pump drives off the crankshaft pulley or the crankshaft itself. The coolant that gathers between the impeller blades travels outward using centrifugal force,. External water pumps have what is known as a weep hole in them.
This hole allows coolant to leak from the water pump as an early sign of bearing failure.
In the case of keeping your engine cool, the water pump is an effective and integral part of the process. But how long can you expect it to last. It contains an impeller (looks like a fan) that circulates water and coolant throughout the cooling system, keeping the engine from overheating.
