Can a Bad Water Pump Cause Loss Of Power?

Definitely, a bad water pump can trigger a lot of problems, but does that include loss in performance? The water pump in every vehicle helps to keep the engine running at normal operating temperature; it works in hand with the thermostat, and as such, it is practically the most important component that makes up a car’s cooling system.

But can a bad water pump cause loss of power? Yes, a bad water pump can result in loss of power, but that’s if you didn’t detect the pump failure earlier and allowed it to escalate to affect other components surrounding the water pump.

Driving with a bad water pump is also not advisable because it can cause overheating and fry some fragile components in the engine bay.

What’s the Function of Water Pump in a Car?

The major function of a water pump is to get coolant into the engine to keep the temperature within the engine at normal operation range.

If the water pump fails to get coolant into the engine, the engine would overheat, and there are many issues that could result from engine overheating.

Can a Bad Water Pump Cause Loss Of Power?

While you can drive with a bad water pump, you’d most likely face a drop in engine performance. Here’s how it happens. When the water pump fails, the engine relies on air from the cold intake (if you installed one) or regular air from the radiator to stay cool

Sadly, such an amount of air won’t completely cool down the engine if it’s excessively overheated, and as such other components in the engine bay start getting affected due to the high heat. The belts/pulleys are the commonest components that may damage first due to a bad water pump.

If the camshaft belt frays or breaks due to the high heat, it’d cause a fatal breakdown of the engine. However, if it were some other components that broke down, you’d notice a serious decline in the engine’s performance.

Other components that could go bad as a result of failed water pump include cylinder heads, head gaskets, and pistons. In worse scenarios, your engine could explode if the heat is “too much” for it to handle. You wouldn’t want that to happen, but it’s inevitable if you keep driving an overheated engine.

You know you’ve got a bad water pump when the check engine light stays illuminated and then the temperature gauge always stayed in the “Hot” region. You may even see hot steams coming out from the bonnet/engine bay.

Conclusion

For the question, “can a bad water pump cause loss of power?” The simple answer is yes, and that’s because a bad water pump would lead to the damage of several other important components in the car.

Getting a new water pump costs around $500 on average depending on what needs to be bought and replaced. You can get it done in any mechanic you trust.

Driving with a bad water pump would only lead to costlier repair, or even a fatal engine breakdown if the overheating gets too intense than the engine could handle.

Read Also: Will Water Pump Leak When Engine Is Off?