The Broken Water Pump: A service tale

Last week, my 2001 Pontiac Grand Am started overheating and making a funny noise – a sputtering noise – like it was choking on water.

After learning all I could possibly learn about a vehicle’s cooling system, I came to the conclusion that my poor little car was in trouble.

A lot of trouble.

My car needed to be fixed quickly, especially since the temperatures in Wichita, Kansas, have been breaking records right and left. Air conditioning in my car is just necessary.

I scheduled my car for a service appointment at Don Hattan Chevrolet’s service center right away.

And here it is. At the doctor’s office (also known as “the service bays”).

Don Hattan Chevrolet service technician Craig Robinson worked on my car. Craig has worked at Don Hattan Chevrolet for almost five years, and is from now on known as the man who saved my car.

After exploring the inner workings of my engine, Craig found the problem: a broken water pump. Good news? Yes! It could have been a number of other even more expensive problems.

What if the entire A/C system was broken? What if I blew a gasket? What if I had a leak in the intake manifold!? So many – so very – expensive possibilities.

Just the water pump? Thank goodness!

A vehicle’s water pump does exactly what it sounds like it should do. It pumps water and coolant through the engine in order to keep the engine cool. When a water pump is working properly with the other parts of a vehicle’s cooling system, the engine should not overheat.

A small hole in my car’s water pump allowed water and coolant to leak all over the engine’s parts, instead of running through, which in turn allowed my car to get too hot and overheat.

But what about the funny sputtering noise?

The part of the engine components that look wet are wet. The arrow points to an area where coolant and water have made the engine wet. Consequently, a belt (not pictured) also got wet, and the sputtering noise was a result of a wet belt running.

Fantastic! Sputtering noises usually mean bad things. Expensive things. This particular noise was a symptom of an illness, and that illness was the leak.

Unfortunately, the water pump could not be repaired. It needed to be replaced.

With a shiny new water pump! I’m sure the difference is apparent. (Who knows how long it’ll look new, though; I drive a lot.)

Luckily, Don Hattan Chevrolet has a parts department on site, and it is stocked. Craig didn’t have to wait long for a new water pump, which means my car was in and out pretty quickly.

After replacing the old with the new, Craig flushed the coolant tank, which took about an hour, but I would have stayed three hours to make sure my car would get me home safely.

And, now, my car gets me around in the record-breaking heat just fine.

Craig is my hero. He is certainly the hero of my Grand Am.

Thanks Craig!

-Shae Blevins (Digital Marketing Assistant)

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