faulty waterpump in vauxhall

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Tue 13 Jan 2004 13:20
faulty waterpump in vauxhall - elisa1
Again I am going to demonstrate my lack of knowledge with cars by asking for som advice before i make a fool of myself.
Some of you will know that my husbands vauxhall carlton as been leaking coolant and the system has been massively pressurising 2 weeks ago the camshaft actually seized causing the camshaft to snap!The car had plenty of oil in it and the oil pump is working fine. At the time I didn't think they were related but again my knowledge of cars is quite limited so please help me out if you have an explanation for this. My Dad who is a mechanic has stripped the car down and as well as a new head gasket etc, he found the waterpump to be faulty. The bearing in the pump is very loose! However we had a new waterpump fitted in July by a mechanic(not my Dad)! Could this faulty waterpump have possibly have caused any of these symptoms/faults? I am really interested in cars particularly as I have a brother and Dad who are mechanics and over the years I have learnt alot through various problems with cars. So if anyone has any advice it would be fantastic.
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Tue 13 Jan 2004 21:00
faulty waterpump in vauxhall - Civic8
I used to have a carlton and so did father in law.They both suffered same problem.It on both occasions turned out to be a blockage in the rad.they also had heater matrix probs either blocked or leaked.Their are two different thermostats for them as well what is known as a summer and winter.There is as I remember only 2 or 3 degrees c in it but some carltons 1.8 worst did not like the higher temp thermostat.Tended to open late and push cold water out/leaving not a lot left in cooling system
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Tue 13 Jan 2004 23:04
faulty waterpump in vauxhall - geoff C
A loose waterpump bearing would not cause problems unless the cam drive belt became so loose that it jumped teeth on the crankshaft sprocket. If the pump finally jammed due to badly worn bearings it would break the belt. (There would be a lot of noise for some time before this.)

If the belt was not broken this was not what led to the cam breaking. Was there also valve damage? Water in the oil?

A loose waterpump bearing is likely to eventually lead to loss of coolant past the waterpump seal.

Excessive pressure causing water to escape from the pressure cap is likely to be caused by head gasket failure, or less likely, a stuck thermostat causing severe overheating. (However, in my experience thermostats usually fail open.)
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Tue 13 Jan 2004 23:32
faulty waterpump in vauxhall - Civic8
>>(However, in my experience thermostats usually fail open.)

That is a fair comment, but if the thermostat has stuck closed will cause the loss of water
as so said.thermostats that fail open.Means the engine stays cooler longer and means engine takes longer to heat up ie if running along a motorway actually will not heat up correctly
unless I read you wrong.And as a matter of interest why won`t the bearing cause the problem.It is the difference between a water leak and not.As the bearing also has the seal built in
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