Your water pump is the heart of your engines cooling system. It is what moves the hot coolant out and away from your engine and to the radiator where it is cooled off with a fan when sitting in traffic or at a stop light and then is cooled by the air as it is blown through the front of the cars grill while you are driving.
It is passed around by way of the upper and lower radiator hoses, engine passageways and of course the radiator and heater core (where your heat comes from in the winter to keep you warm) Most water pumps can last between 80,000 to 150,000 miles before the bearings and or seals wear out and it starts to leak or worse yet fails all at once and ends your commute to wherever you were going. If you watch the video this water pump on this jeep was not leaking but was overheating due to the plastic part used for pumping the coolant through the engine had broken in the center and left this engine getting to hot.
It had to be towed in to be fixed so the engine did not damage itself from getting too hot while being driven. We already discussed what the average life of a water pump is and some do break sooner and others last a very long time. On water pump that are chain driven or run with an outside belt we watch these carefully at each regularly scheduled service for any signs of wear and replace them at the first sign of trouble. On engines that use a water pump that are driven by a timing belt we follow the manufacturer's recommended time or mileage intervals for replacing the belt and will also recommend to replace the water pump at the same time, this is mainly done to save some money since about 85% of the labor is done for replacing the timing belt then you have a bout 15% extra labor and of course the new pump.
Also on these engines with timing belts if the water pump fails and locks up it can cause the engines timing belt to get thrown out of time and cause severe damage to the engine so this would be another great reason to replace the pump before it actually fails. Timing belts generally get replaced between 60,000 and 120,000 miles so it does also fall into the normal lifespan of a water pump.
Your water pump is the heart of your engines cooling system. It is what moves the hot coolant out and away from your engine and to the radiator where it is cooled off with a fan when sitting in traffic or at a stop light and then is cooled by the air as it is blown through the front of the cars grill while you are driving.
It is passed around by way of the upper and lower radiator hoses, engine passageways and of course the radiator and heater core (where your heat comes from in the winter to keep you warm) Most water pumps can last between 80,000 to 150,000 miles before the bearings and or seals wear out and it starts to leak or worse yet fails all at once and ends your commute to wherever you were going. If you watch the video this water pump on this jeep was not leaking but was overheating due to the plastic part used for pumping the coolant through the engine had broken in the center and left this engine getting to hot.
It had to be towed in to be fixed so the engine did not damage itself from getting too hot while being driven. We already discussed what the average life of a water pump is and some do break sooner and others last a very long time. On water pump that are chain driven or run with an outside belt we watch these carefully at each regularly scheduled service for any signs of wear and replace them at the first sign of trouble. On engines that use a water pump that are driven by a timing belt we follow the manufacturer's recommended time or mileage intervals for replacing the belt and will also recommend to replace the water pump at the same time, this is mainly done to save some money since about 85% of the labor is done for replacing the timing belt then you have a bout 15% extra labor and of course the new pump.
Also on these engines with timing belts if the water pump fails and locks up it can cause the engines timing belt to get thrown out of time and cause severe damage to the engine so this would be another great reason to replace the pump before it actually fails. Timing belts generally get replaced between 60,000 and 120,000 miles so it does also fall into the normal lifespan of a water pump.