Lot of white steam from back

[LowFlyR]

I had my low coolant warning come on and because temps were OK I kept driving because I was only few mile from home. When I stopped to a red light I saw some white steam on my mirror. I parked the car and steam continued. Temps never went past 0 on 180 on the gauge. I was only 2 miles from home, but I called my wife to pick me up. We returned 2 hrs later with water. Car had cooled down, so I added almost 1 gallon to get it to full mark and drove home. @ home I looked again and it was not visible @ the tank. So I filled up 1 gallon more and fired it up for a short period of time again. I checked the level, it was OK.

My guess is either waterpump or hose? Any better ideas? Car runs fine.

Edited December 28, 2008 by LowFlyR

[JP Rodkey]

Well, you do know it's going somewhere it's not supposed to go. Check directly under the expansion tank for a leak, which is not uncommon. I have an engine sitting about 20 feet from me right now that was rendered to core status because of a water pump impeller separated from the shaft. The leaking happened around the pulley shaft at such a slow rate that it went unnoticed by the PO until it was too late. I assume he ignored the temp guage because it works fine. If you can't find anything external, then best bet would be to hook up a system pressure tester. If you don't have one, many parts stores have them for loaners. If that doesn't expose a leaking hose or component and you see the pressure dropping, it's probably going to be internal - possibly head gasket. Don't forget that the coolant is directed all the way from the back of the car to the two front radiators along with all the fittings, connections, and hoses. Depending on your abilities and resources, that might be the time to take it to an indy for a diagnosis/opinion. Good luck!

[txhokie4life]

Well, you do know it's going somewhere it's not supposed to go. Check directly under the expansion tank for a leak, which is not uncommon. I have an engine sitting about 20 feet from me right now that was rendered to core status because of a water pump impeller separated from the shaft. The leaking happened around the pulley shaft at such a slow rate that it went unnoticed by the PO until it was too late. I assume he ignored the temp guage because it works fine. If you can't find anything external, then best bet would be to hook up a system pressure tester. If you don't have one, many parts stores have them for loaners. If that doesn't expose a leaking hose or component and you see the pressure dropping, it's probably going to be internal - possibly head gasket. Don't forget that the coolant is directed all the way from the back of the car to the two front radiators along with all the fittings, connections, and hoses. Depending on your abilities and resources, that might be the time to take it to an indy for a diagnosis/opinion. Good luck!

Did the water pump looks like this? Oddly -- the impeller spins freely now -- so I'm not sure how the shaft sheared off?

m

Edited December 28, 2008 by txhokie4life

[Bill_SoCal]

If the car runs fine, I don't believe the failure point would be the water pump. If the water pump failed, I would think the drive belt would fail, and the dash board would light up like a Christmas tree. Hopefully it is something simple...please let us know what you find Jake. I'd put the front seats forward and pull the fire wall...

Good luck.

Bill B)

[txhokie4life]

If the car runs fine, I don't believe the failure point would be the water pump. If the water pump failed, I would think the drive belt would fail, and the dash board would light up like a Christmas tree. Hopefully it is something simple...please let us know what you find Jake. I'd put the front seats forward and pull the fire wall...

Good luck.

Bill B)

Has anyone run without the drive belt? Does the dash actually light up?

Just want to make sure there is no false sense of security.

mike

[phillipj]

Check your engine dipstick to make sure you have no water/oil intermix. A water pump is what caused my engine to fail wiithout any temp warning.

I hope it is something simple. Whatever you do DO NOT START OR DRIVE THE CAR. Get it to your meachanic asap.

Good luck!

Phillipj

[Edman]

If the car runs fine, I don't believe the failure point would be the water pump. If the water pump failed, I would think the drive belt would fail, and the dash board would light up like a Christmas tree. Hopefully it is something simple...please let us know what you find Jake. I'd put the front seats forward and pull the fire wall...

Good luck.

Bill B)

Has anyone run without the drive belt? Does the dash actually light up?

Just want to make sure there is no false sense of security.

mike

Yes. My water pump broke up last week. Dash lights galore, no power steering, lots of white smoke, and rising temps.

[JP Rodkey]

Well, you do know it's going somewhere it's not supposed to go. Check directly under the expansion tank for a leak, which is not uncommon. I have an engine sitting about 20 feet from me right now that was rendered to core status because of a water pump impeller separated from the shaft. The leaking happened around the pulley shaft at such a slow rate that it went unnoticed by the PO until it was too late. I assume he ignored the temp guage because it works fine. If you can't find anything external, then best bet would be to hook up a system pressure tester. If you don't have one, many parts stores have them for loaners. If that doesn't expose a leaking hose or component and you see the pressure dropping, it's probably going to be internal - possibly head gasket. Don't forget that the coolant is directed all the way from the back of the car to the two front radiators along with all the fittings, connections, and hoses. Depending on your abilities and resources, that might be the time to take it to an indy for a diagnosis/opinion. Good luck!

Did the water pump looks like this? Oddly -- the impeller spins freely now -- so I'm not sure how the shaft sheared off?

m

Wow....that's pretty catastrophic. And no, mine doesn't look like that. The impeller broke off of the shaft and simply sat in the housing doing nothing while the shaft turned. The pulley and belt stayed intact.

I bought the car knowing it had overheated. I managed to get the engine to run, but there was a loud rattle coming from the front of the engine. Putting two and two together (overheat and rattle), I decided to check out the water pump. Removed the pump to find the broken impeller. When removing the pump, the pulley had significant wobble to it.

The wobble of the shaft was obviously due to the bearing. I'm guessing that the bearing wore out over time allowing the belt to pull the pulley/shaft off center, and after enough wear, allowed the impeller to begin hitting the water pump housing which in turned caused it to finally break off of the shaft.

[txhokie4life]

Well, you do know it's going somewhere it's not supposed to go. Check directly under the expansion tank for a leak, which is not uncommon. I have an engine sitting about 20 feet from me right now that was rendered to core status because of a water pump impeller separated from the shaft. The leaking happened around the pulley shaft at such a slow rate that it went unnoticed by the PO until it was too late. I assume he ignored the temp guage because it works fine. If you can't find anything external, then best bet would be to hook up a system pressure tester. If you don't have one, many parts stores have them for loaners. If that doesn't expose a leaking hose or component and you see the pressure dropping, it's probably going to be internal - possibly head gasket. Don't forget that the coolant is directed all the way from the back of the car to the two front radiators along with all the fittings, connections, and hoses. Depending on your abilities and resources, that might be the time to take it to an indy for a diagnosis/opinion. Good luck!

Did the water pump looks like this? Oddly -- the impeller spins freely now -- so I'm not sure how the shaft sheared off?

m

Wow....that's pretty catastrophic. And no, mine doesn't look like that. The impeller broke off of the shaft and simply sat in the housing doing nothing while the shaft turned. The pulley and belt stayed intact.

I bought the car knowing it had overheated. I managed to get the engine to run, but there was a loud rattle coming from the front of the engine. Putting two and two together (overheat and rattle), I decided to check out the water pump. Removed the pump to find the broken impeller. When removing the pump, the pulley had significant wobble to it.

The wobble of the shaft was obviously due to the bearing. I'm guessing that the bearing wore out over time allowing the belt to pull the pulley/shaft off center, and after enough wear, allowed the impeller to begin hitting the water pump housing which in turned caused it to finally break off of the shaft.

Make sure your coolant and oil did not mix -- and if not -- replace the waterpump - -and you should be good to go.

Mine was completely mis-daignossed -- and I bought it assuming something even worse!!

So I was glad it was only the water pump. Still a complete rebuild due to the water and coolant -- and corrosion potential,

that and we had already tore it down looking for a cracked cylinder liner.

Mike

[LowFlyR]

UPDATE: It was one water hose which had rubbed in to something solid. Shop said that they have never seen that water hose so close. So I must thank local stealership which repaired an oil leak just before I purchased the car 21mo and 12kmls ago.

And of course my warranty don't cover the hose.

[txhokie4life]

UPDATE: It was one water hose which had rubbed in to something solid. Shop said that they have never seen that water hose so close. So I must thank local stealership which repaired an oil leak just before I purchased the car 21mo and 12kmls ago.

And of course my warranty don't cover the hose.

Glad it was relatively benign.....

Happy Boxstering....

Mike

[LowFlyR]

UPDATE: It was one water hose which had rubbed in to something solid. Shop said that they have never seen that water hose so close. So I must thank local stealership which repaired an oil leak just before I purchased the car 21mo and 12kmls ago.

And of course my warranty don't cover the hose.

Glad it was relatively benign.....

Happy Boxstering....

Mike

For me it would rather be the tank or pump, because warranty woud have paid for those and it would have cost me less.... :D