La Water Pump it is one of those elements that if they stop working, they can leave you stranded halfway. We all have in our heads the typical image of a car on the side of the road with the hood open, while its owner checks the levels without understanding what is happening.
El engine fault warning light It has turned on and our protagonist has realized that the thermometer shows a temperature well above normal. As anyone with any knowledge of cars would, the first thing he did was pull over to a safe place, open the hood and look at the fuel level. refrigerant. To his surprise, everything is at the right levels. She doesn't know it yet, but this time it was the water pump.
What is the water pump for?
El refrigeration system of a car has several elements and the water pump is one of the most important. It is a turbine that circulates the coolant within the entire circuit. The best known function is to carry the liquid from the heat emitter, which in this case is the engine, to the one in charge of dissipating it, the radiator. So it is useless to have the coolant at maximum if nothing moves it between these two elements.
However, if we delve into its role in engine operation, that is not the only mission of the water pump. When it is still warming up and the thermostat you've cut power to the radiator, the water pump just moves the coolant within a much smaller loop. In this circumstance, what it does is distribute the heat homogeneously throughout the engine block, to avoid uneven expansion that would end up deforming its parts over time.
How the water pump works
Its operation is very simple. There are many brands and some of them can opt for different solutions, but the most widespread is that of a turbine attached to a timing belt who goes to crankshaft. In this way, the more revolutions the engine has, and therefore the more heat it generates, the faster the water pump will move.
that strap it can be independent or it can be the same one that moves the damper o crank pulley and that also gives energy to other elements. Many times the water pump is sold in a complete kit that includes the turbine, the belt and the other elements for its assembly or there are some that are sold independently. The former are around 100 or 150 euros, while the latter barely reach 30 euros. Of course, these prices can go up a lot if you look at the prices of premium or luxury car water pumps.
Symptoms to know if it has stopped working
Many reasons why an engine can overheat. The thermostat may fail, coolant may leak from the radiator or from another part of the circuit, the fans may stop working... But, to know if the water pump has stopped moving the liquid you have to prick up your ears.
Normally when this part stops working, a metallic noise when its pulley rotates. So depending on your engine, it can be easy to listen to it and follow the sound back to its source. We do not recommend that you try to replace it on your own unless you have mechanical knowledge and the right tools. In a workshop they can replace it for a price between 100 and 300 euros depending on your model.
How to replace the water pump
If you decide to repair it yourself, you have to know how to do other operations first of mechanics such as drain antifreeze, fill it again and purge it correctly. When the water pump is removed to put another one, the circuit must be emptied first. Also, depending on what engine you have, you will have to disassemble some parts to be able to get to the pump. Which can be quite complicated if you don't know it well.
If you have these aspects well controlled, here we leave you a good video on how to change the water pump. In this case they are changing it to an Opel Combo Tour DTI 1.7, but it will give you a clear notion of what elements are involved in the operation.
For those of you who venture to do this mechanical repair without having too much knowledge and practice, two tips:
- Each part you disassemble must be put back exactly as it was. Do not rely solely on your memory, because you may have to disassemble several important parts. Take a picture of everything before you touch it, and if necessary, take more photos during the process.
- Make sure you have all the tools What do you need before you get down to work? You would not be the first to find that a key is missing when the process is halfway done.
Picture 3 – Pete
I am a student of diesel mechanics I would like you to collaborate with me with photos of the cooling system of a diesel engine and if you can attach the operation of each part I thank you it would be of great help
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Hello friends:
I have an ECHO 2001, I have bought the thermostat, the thermoswich, the nozzle, the radiator cap, I have sent specialists to clean the radiator and with all this I still do not understand why it continues to heat up a lot until the signal of a red thermometer lights up If it is possible to send the board to me, your opinions would be helping me a lot because I have run out of money from my savings and I have a family.
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WHEN AN ENGINE WARMS UP IT MAY HAVE AIR TO REMOVE THE AIR REMOVE A TEMPERATURE SENSOR WITH THE CAR OFF AND COLD YOU WILL HEAR HOW THE AIR COMES OUT DO THIS FOR SEVERAL DAYS
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