# Is my water pump acting dead?

**URL:** <https://community.cartalk.com/t/is-my-water-pump-acting-dead/3920>\
**Category:** Maintenance/Repairs\
**Created:** [August 30, 2007, 10:26pm UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/is-my-water-pump-acting-dead/3920 "2007-08-30T22:26:17Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 2\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![katwoman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/7bcc69/32.png) [@katwoman](https://community.cartalk.com/u/katwoman)\
**Post date:** [August 30, 2007, 10:26pm UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/is-my-water-pump-acting-dead/3920/1 "2007-08-30T22:26:17Z")

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How can I tell if my water pump has gone out? Wouldn’t it spew coolant everywhere if it had died?

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**Author:** ![87\_Ranger](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/8/f14d63/32.png) [@87\_Ranger](https://community.cartalk.com/u/87_Ranger)\
**Post date:** [August 30, 2007, 11:19pm UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/is-my-water-pump-acting-dead/3920/2 "2007-08-30T23:19:27Z")

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Water pumps can fail in different ways.

They might leak.

The impeller can wear out & not pump enough coolant.

The impeller can break loose from the pump shaft & not pump ANY coolant.

Is your car overheating?