You're driving along just fine and you catch a red light. You sit there and change the radio, look around and see who's in the cars around you, and at the height of your boredom waiting for the green you look at your gauges. Wait, the temperature is creeping into the red! What is going on?

The light changes and you head for the first parking lot, but before you get to the turn, the Gauge drops, so you drive a little farther and it goes back to normal. Hmm, odd. But at the next light it happens again! Oh, no!

You open up the hood in the parking lot and see the overflow bottle with plenty of water, and your belts look ok, so what's going on?

Your water pump is on it's way out, buddy, and the dancing temp gauge is the swan song. This is one of the most common things I've seen in my years of working on cars.

The next most common is the leaky gasket. A highly annoying drip, drip, drip, that a lot of times you can't see when the car isn't running, and doesn't start happening until the motor is way too hot for the average Joe to want to lean over. You can usually get an early indication of the leaky gasket if you find your car suddenly low on water, and dripping for a short time after you park. But don't be confused by a dripping from the A/C system. The coolant should have a green or orange tint to it from the antifreeze that not only lubricates the system, but prevents rust, and raises the boiling point of the water.

If you feel you may have a water pump on the way out, I wouldn't hesitate to have it checked out. It may just save your engine from disaster when it overheats and warps the head, or blows out the head gasket. An ounce of prevention!

Learn more about this author, Jon Ybarra.
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