Crestview Auto Service Saskatoon Car Care Advice: Water Pump

Let's face it, most of us do not think about  our vehicles until we run into a problem....and that problem may be a major inconvenience at best; an accident at worst. Having your vehicle serviced by people that you trust is an absolute must.   Let our team of highly trained technicians at Crestview Auto Service work with you to make sure your vehicle is ready for the road. 

Crestview Auto Service are your Trusted Saskatoon Auto Repair and service Experts!

The cooling system in an engine has five components: the radiator, the radiator cap, the hoses, the thermostat and the water pump. The water is literally the heart of the system. Just as your own heart keeps your blood circulating through your body, the water pump keeps coolant circulating through your engine.

The water pump is driven by a belt, chain or gear and only operates while the engine is running. It has a limited life span and sooner or later will have to be replaced. You can check your owner’s manual to find out how long your water pump should last. Some can fail at only 60,000 kilometers, but almost all of them fail by 160,000 kilometers.

Water pumps don’t gradually wear out; they fail. In other words, they’re either working or they’re not. A failed water pump has to be replaced.

Water pumps can fail in two ways: they can spring a leak or their bearings fail. Leaks can come from a cracked pump, but usually develop at the gasket where the pump attaches to the engine.

If you hear a low-pitched grinding sound coming from the water pump, it’s time for a new one. If you see coolant leaking in the area near the pump, it needs to be replaced. Also, coolant on the driveway could indicate water pump failure. Many water pumps aren’t visible because they’re under a plastic cover, so you may have to take your pickup to your Saskatoon service center or Crestview Auto Service to know if the water pump has failed.

If your water pump is run by the timing belt, then it should be replaced when you replace the belt. Most timing belts need to be replaced at around 100,000 to 150,000 kilometers. The labor for replacing a timing belt is about 90% the same for replacing a water pump, so it’s cost-effective to take care of them both at the same time.

Also, if your water pump develops a leak (if it’s powered by the timing belt), you have to replace the timing belt as well since contamination by coolant fluid damages the belt. It just makes sense for Saskatoon motorists to replace both of these critical parts whenever either one needs it.

Replacing a water pump at Crestview Auto Service is a car care issue that almost all of us Saskatoon car owners face eventually. They don’t last forever. On the other hand, we can extend the life of most of the components of our vehicle through important preventive maintenance. Just as exercise and diet keep our heart healthy, regular check-ups and fluid 

Drop in or give us a call at 24 - 23rd St E
Saskatoon, SK, 306-244-6522

Crestview Auto Service

“We’ll Keep Your Car Young a Long Time”

VW, and the automotive scandal of the decade

A Volkswagen product from a happier time . . .1967  (c) J E Robison

This week we have seen the revelation that VW engineers programmed their new diesel cars to sense when they were being tested for emissions, and when that happens to put the car into a special “low emission test mode.”

In normal mode the cars run better, but according to news reports the emissions can be 10 to 40 times higher.  Of course engine tuners have always known that truth – the tuning where a car runs best is very different from the tuning where it pollutes least.  Indeed, least pollution may equal minimal drivability in some cases.

VW owners have reacted with outrage.  They are particularly upset at the carmaker’s deliberate and premeditated action.  The brazenness of this goes beyond any automotive scandal in my memory.

At first the problem was thought to affect “just” 500,000 VW diesels in the USA.  Now VW has said up to 11 million cars worldwide may be affected.  Apparently they gamed the emission test system elsewhere in the world too.

The thing that sets this apart is VW’s seeming admission that they designed car software to deceive.  Ethically, that is a big step beyond overlooking a marginal design, or ignoring a flaw that would be costly to correct.  It’s like answering your cell phone from a brothel and telling your wife you’re in church.

The closest parallel to this situation that I can recall in the auto industry is the odometer tampering scandals of the 1980s.  In those years odometers were mechanical. They could be taken apart and altered with nothing more than a few hand tools.

At the same time, there was no system of checking odometer readings at state inspections, or even when ownership changed.  You could buy a car with 60,000 miles in one state, and sell it in the next state with 24,000 miles, with virtually zero chance of getting caught.  People in the trade called that job “clocking.”

Sleazy dealers were making fortunes; purchasing high mile lease cars at auction, shaving tens of thousands of miles from their odometers, and selling them at auctions in other states.  A truckload of cars altered in that way might earn the dealer ten thousand dollars or more, and there was almost no limit to how many cars could be clocked.

The situation became so bad that the FBI got involved in a big way.  They busted one dealer after another in sting operations and by following cars from auction to auction as the miles fell away.  In most cases, the perpetrators went to jail.  It was Federal time.

I still remember an interview with an FBI agent, who was asked why clockers got multi-year prison sentences when there was no violence.  In many cases clockers were going to prison for as long as a street criminal might go away for armed robbery.

“It’s the cold premeditated nature of it,” he said.  “A robber or murderer can say his was a crime of passion or desperation.  Setting an odometer back is a planned deliberate act.  You can’t say you didn’t know it was wrong, or you didn’t know what you were doing.”

In those days the clockers themselves and the dealer principals went to prison.  The clockers for doing the deed, and the owners for ordering it done and profiting from it.

Will VW executives face a similar reckoning?  The premeditation is the same.  They knew is would not pass with the tuning used on the road, so they made a special tune for the test stand.  The financial loss to consumers is the same too.  With clocked cars, owners paid more than the car was worth thinking it had fewer miles on it, and more life left in it.  With a diesel VW consumers paid more for the “green” engine and now they have a car that is significantly devalued now that the “green” deception is exposed.

Millions of people bought VW diesels based on their performance that was gotten by cheating the emission laws.  If the cars are modified to comply with law, and the performance suffers, VW could find itself buying back a boatload of vehicles.  They’ll be salable at some price, but the cost to VW could be huge – billions of dollars in the US alone.  If the cars are modified and people keep them, there is still the issue of broken trust.  If they cheated on the emissions, did they cheat on crash safety?  The loss of future sales may cost billions more.

But before they can do that, they have to get the cars brought in for recall.  If the car loses performance and economy, what owner would voluntarily agree to do that?  State action may be required, and they will harm VW’s image even more.  Today less than half the owners whose cars are subject to recall actually get the recalls done.

VW says have set aside money to pay for a fix, and to compensate owners.  But is money enough? 

We Have A Winner! The British Invasion Car Show

At the concours at today’s 2015 British Invasion motorcar show in Stowe, Vermont . . .

Gus & Christine Bjorklund of Chelmsford, MA took 3^rdplace in a black 1978 Bentley T2 sedan

Modern Car Society president Jim Facinelli drove all the way from Pennsylvania in his 1989 Silver Spur to take 2^nd

1989 Rolls-Royce Silver Spur - Jim Facinelli  (c)2015 JE Robison

We presented John Rando’s 1972 long wheelbase Silver Shadow, for a 1^st place win.  As 1st place winner I had an opportunity to speak for a moment and I think the audience was surprised to hear I am autistic and the detail they saw in this vehicle is in part a manifestation of my autistic fixation on motorcars.  I also thanked the car's owner John Rando for his support of us, and making this restoration possible.  It's funny . . . millions of people have read my books and writings on autism but I'll bet that part of my life was unknown to 99% of the people at that show.

There was a very nice 1927 Bentley from Quebec.

Paul and Catherine Stanley’s 1951 Bentley Mark VI took Best in Show, from Gloucester MA

Finally, out on the people’s choice field there were 12 more Rolls-Royce and Bentley motorcars, and two for sale in the corral.

In the Land Rover area my friends David and Shelly Rifken brought their two Land Rover Defenders

My son drove up our 1990 Jaguar XJ-S convertible

And the field was filled with 650 magnificent British cars on a fine early fall day

We had a great time at the how.  It's always good to see our friends from the world of collector cars.  And thanks to everyone at Robison Service and of course my family for making it all possible.

(c) 2015 John Elder Robison

John Elder Robison is the general manager of J E Robison Service Company, celebrating 30 years of independent Land Rover restoration and repair in Springfield, Massachusetts.  John is a longtime technical consultant to the Land Rover clubs, and he’s owned and restored many fine Rovers.  Find him online at www.robisonservice.com or in the real world at 413-785-1665

Reading this article will make you smarter, especially when it comes to car stuff.  So it's good for you.  But don't take that too far - printing and eating it will probably make you sick.