# Sidekick water pump failure warning

**URL:** <https://community.cartalk.com/t/sidekick-water-pump-failure-warning/30258>\
**Category:** Maintenance/Repairs\
**Tags:** suzuki, sidekick\
**Created:** [May 9, 2009, 10:14pm UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/sidekick-water-pump-failure-warning/30258 "2009-05-09T22:14:47Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 2\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![dogboy1995](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ba8739/32.png) [@dogboy1995](https://community.cartalk.com/u/dogboy1995)\
**Post date:** [May 9, 2009, 10:14pm UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/sidekick-water-pump-failure-warning/30258/1 "2009-05-09T22:14:47Z")

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I had a Suzuki Sidekick JX. The water pump broke and dumped all the  
  
 coolant out. With no coolant to measure the temperature of, the engine  
  
 temperature gauge never moved even though the engine overheated and  
  
 warped the head, essentially destroying the engine.  
  
  
  
 Of course, if I was informed that the water pump failed I would have  
  
 stopped the engine immediately, probably saving the engine.  
  
  
  
 Is this not poor engineering? Surely, the engine temperature gauge  
  
 should inform the driver when the water pump fails?  
  
  
  
 Thanks as always.

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**Author:** ![researcher](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/edb3f5/32.png) [@researcher](https://community.cartalk.com/u/researcher)\
**Post date:** [May 9, 2009, 10:27pm UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/sidekick-water-pump-failure-warning/30258/2 "2009-05-09T22:27:29Z")

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The same thing would have happened if you blew a radiator or heater hose. The only indication of the water loss is the temp gauge quickly heading up then dropping back down to normal or below normal as the sending unit runs dry. The only way to catch this is to see the spike and drop but drivers are rarely observing the gauges that closely.

Chalk this up to bad luck.