Express Car Care Question:  I was driving on the freeway in Colorado and the engine on my vehicle started to get hot.  I turned off my air conditioner and was able to drive the short distance to my meeting and then found a shop in Denver.  It turns out that my water pump was leaking.  It cost me hundreds of dollars to get it fixed.  Is there anything I could have done to avoid this?

Express Car Care Answer:  This story really did have a happy ending.  When you continue driving when your engine is overheating you risk a catastrophic engine failure.  It really is a good idea to pull over and let your engine cool down before you drive it again.  If you try to add water or coolant, be sure your engine is cool or you’ll risk getting serious burns.

Unfortunately, there really isn’t any way for drivers to predict when their water pump will fail – water pumps just wear out.  This drivers water pump replacement was more expensive because the water pump is driven by a timing belt.  This repair requires a lot of hours of labor for the mechanic to get to the water pump and then put everything back on the engine.

A money saving tip from Express Car Care is if your water pump is driven by your timing belt – replace the pump when you have your scheduled timing belt replacement.  This way most of the work is already done and you don’t end up paying for it twice.

Check with your friendly and knowledgeable professionals at Express Car Care about when it’s a good idea to have your timing belt replaced.

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