Can a failed water pump damage engine?

[nmatthis]

Obviously, yes, a failed water pump could damage the engine if you somehow forced the car to keep going and let it overheat maybe. I ask because my wife's aunt said the water pump went out on her Gen 4 Camry while driving and it did $2000 in damage. I have 160,000 miles on my 99 Solara and I'm considering replacing the water pump when I have the serpentine belt changed to pre-empt a failure. Is that worth it?

[lilm]

yes yes yes yes its right there please do them at the same time

[1gSE]

Obviously, yes, a failed water pump could damage the engine if you somehow forced the car to keep going and let it overheat maybe. I ask because my wife's aunt said the water pump went out on her Gen 4 Camry while driving and it did $2000 in damage. I have 160,000 miles on my 99 Solara and I'm considering replacing the water pump when I have the serpentine belt changed to pre-empt a failure. Is that worth it?

definitely. My water pump went out on my old cavalier....i ended up doing about $1600 worth in damages

[Dawgz]

U might as well get the timing belt, tensioner and the pulleys changed, as well as the crank seal, and cam seals while ur doing this.

[Chinky420]

well, if your water pump fails, and you're on the highway, you could probably keep the engine cool enough by air cooling, at least while you're moving.


now, if you stopped, on the other hand, you'd want to turn off the engine.


but i had a cousin drive from phoenix, arizona to la, cali, and had his water pump go out right as he got out of arizona. but, just so long as he was moving, his engine heat stayed managable (obviously he was cruising and not trying to rev it up), and he was able to make it to LA where he could replace the water pump


but of course it was in fall, and not during summer, which made heat management easier.

and my motto, in response to the second part of the question: do as much maintenance (preventative or otherwise) as possible, while you're in the area working on stuff.

[Gangis]

ALWAYS, ALWAYS, ALWAYS get the water pump changed at the same time as your timing belts, among other things. An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure.

[Jakecallun20]

Yeah, if that fails your screwed. Change it. The water pump is what pumps coolant through the passage ways in the motor block, so without that....coolant isn't flowing, and if your in the city it will cause your engine to overheat and your motor block will eventually crack. Trust me, its worth the money to go ahead and change it, and as Dawgz said earlier... Do the seals, timing belt, and check your pulleys since it will be open. At 160k its best. If your water pump has never been changed chances are neither has your belt, so its a good idea to spend the money. Crank and Cam seals, if there gonna fail soon it happens around 150-180k. I changed all of mine at 145k and spent 983 dollars. Car is now good for another 100k with preventative maintenance now.

Hope this helps, Jake

[conor42]

You're not screwed if it fails. You're screwed if you're stupid enough to keep driving it after it starts to overheat.

It just so happens that most people are stupid enough to drive their cars without ever glancing down at their instrument cluster.

[nmatthis]

Crap, I had the timing belt replaced just a few months ago and the dealership never suggested replacing the water pump too. Was $983 the crank and cam seals and the water pump, or only the seals? I have replaced my serpentine belt at least once. Are there any other things that are adventageous to replace along with the water pump? I did replace most of my pulley and the dynamic tensioner at 100k. Let's get a list going here:

water pump
crank seal
cam seal
???

Yeah, if that fails your screwed. Change it. The water pump is what pumps coolant through the passage ways in the motor block, so without that....coolant isn't flowing, and if your in the city it will cause your engine to overheat and your motor block will eventually crack. Trust me, its worth the money to go ahead and change it, and as Dawgz said earlier... Do the seals, timing belt, and check your pulleys since it will be open. At 160k its best. If your water pump has never been changed chances are neither has your belt, so its a good idea to spend the money. Crank and Cam seals, if there gonna fail soon it happens around 150-180k. I changed all of mine at 145k and spent 983 dollars. Car is now good for another 100k with preventative maintenance now.

Hope this helps, Jake

[DatSRBoi]

Last owner of my supra drove almost 2300 miles with no coolant on a turbo 7m block. The day I brought it the car still drove home without me knowing it was empty til I came to a 100% complete stop to find out it started over heating. Motor ran strong with only a blown head gasket.

Toyota woot woot.


Not saying to drive like that but just telling you what I saw happen with me.

[nmatthis]

In a worst case scenario, what damage could be done that would cost $1600?

[DatSRBoi]

In a worst case scenario, what damage could be done that would cost $1600?

no oil, bent valve, ring failure, timing belt snapping, etc etc.

[Solarafreek]

Last owner of my supra drove almost 2300 miles with no coolant on a turbo 7m block. The day I brought it the car still drove home without me knowing it was empty til I came to a 100% complete stop to find out it started over heating. Motor ran strong with only a blown head gasket.

Toyota woot woot.


Not saying to drive like that but just telling you what I saw happen with me.

what a surprise..a 7M w/ a blown head gasket

[Sol-Toy]

U might as well get the timing belt, tensioner and the pulleys changed, as well as the crank seal, and cam seals while ur doing this.

yup, do it all. Its not that much more work since its all right there. If you have it done, they shouldn't charge much more for all of this.

Wouldn't this be the second time you're doing this? I had it done at 98k miles (I waited waaaay too long).

[Jakecallun20]

U might as well get the timing belt, tensioner and the pulleys changed, as well as the crank seal, and cam seals while ur doing this.

yup, do it all. Its not that much more work since its all right there. If you have it done, they shouldn't charge much more for all of this.

Wouldn't this be the second time you're doing this? I had it done at 98k miles (I waited waaaay too long).

You waited way too long at 98k? Ha. I didn't have any of this done till 145k.