watery problem

[jned2]

Was caught in a traffic queue on Mon for about 20mins in my S3 when I noticed a strange smell! I looked at the dials to see the temp gauge was virtually in the red. Fortunately at the same time the the traffic eased and as I picked up speed the needle dropped quickly back, but not to its normal horizontal position, slightly above. I got home OK, checked under the bonnet nothing appeared obviously wrong. When it had cooled sufficiently I checked the water level and it was down so I topped it up. I started the car and it warmed up and the fan kicked in, however a puddle began to appear under the engine. On closer inspection I could see water dripping from around the bottom of the water pump, the 2 hoses attached look OK. I presume the car almost overheated because I've been losing water via the pump for a while and that this only became obvious when I got caught up in traffic, does this sound logical, have I missed anything or could it be something else?

[GadgeS3C]

If the pump is dying it's possible the overheating is linked to poor water circulation as well. Cure for both problems is a new pump anyway.

[mep12345]

Iirc the water pump has a tell tale so when the mechanical seal or bearing is failing it dribbles out to tell you to change it before full failure occurs

[phillpot]

If the pump seal is leaking it will have a negligable effect on the pumps performance but obviously the coolant loss will eventually cause a problem!

The "tell tale" is to allow any minor leakage to drip out rather than pass down the shaft and wash the grease out of the bearings.

Does sound like time for a new pump.

[DamianS3]

Did the fans act as normal?

Water leak not good either..

Cheers

Damian

[steve j]

mep12345 said:

Iirc the water pump has a tell tale so when the mechanical seal or bearing is failing it dribbles out to tell you to change it before full failure occurs

Spot on Mark, it happened to me in France, there is a small hole on the top of the bearing housing, it leaks when the pump is buggered. The pump is held in by 12 bolts and is easy to replace.

[jned2]

Damian thanks, yes the fan works perfectly and kicks in as normal. Ordered a new pump yesterday which I've just picked up, £48 in total which I thought was good price, the guy gave me 20% off when I told him it was for a TVR. Took the old pump off last night without too much trouble, only managed to shear off one bolt which after a good soaking over night in releasing agent came out just now without the loss of too much skin. Weather permitting on with the new one tomorrow and see how she goes. Thanks for the help and advice.