Shouldn't have said anything - Waterpump fault?

[barker22]

So following on from yesterdays thread about never having any big problems with my 182 in my 5 years of ownership.
I get a nice surprise this morning.

Stopped at a friends house after a spirited drive and noticed steam coming from the bonnet shut....hmmm what the hell.

Opened the bonnet and there appears to be some fluid baking off on the downpipe at the back. Also the whole bottom drivers side seems to be soaked in 'something'
Took the d/s wheel off to have a look and the arch is covered, the wheel is covered, the d/s is caked in thick fluid. checked the expansion tank and it is right at the bottom, well below the minimum. I take it that the waterpump has gone. Car has done 60k since a genuine one was fitted in 2009.

I topped up the reservoir with fresh coolant and it is dropping slowly and dripping under the car on the drivers side, however the car isn't overheating. I must have done a good few miles with the car in that 'state' and the needle stays steady centred. It whines on startup but goes after 2 minutes.

I have no issue getting it fixed however can anyone explain how this happened, why everything is covered in coolant and why the level only seems to be dropping slowly now?

 

[Daniel]

You sure it's not a split hose / cracked expansion bottle?

 

[Chi]

Did you not touch wood

 

[barker22]

You sure it's not a split hose / cracked expansion bottle?

doesn't seem to be. its all located right around the aux area

 

[Snake182]

I read your thread the other day aswell, im not a superstitious kind of person but damn! If its around the aux area then pump is very likely to be at fault, just make sure its not something else as when your driving the coolant would have gone everywhere making it hard to pinpoint.

 

[barker22]

You sure it's not a split hose / cracked expansion bottle?

Spot on that man. Disaster averted. Managed to have a proper look today and it turned out to be a split hose. Phew. So I still have faith in my 182.
I thought it might have been something more serious read expensive). So sorted with a £20 replacement set of hoses.