No wonder it was overheating.

[Matt Cramer]

My Buick Regal's 3800 Supercharged has been running hot after getting off the highway. The problem was finally traced to the water pump - looks like cavitation or corrosion had completely wiped the vanes off the impeller!

[DanStokes]

That might 'splain it...... (weird....)

Dan

[SuperBuickGuy]

what a piece of junk?

[STINEY]

As far as failures go..............that is a cool one!

Thanks for sharing.

[SuperBuickGuy]

As far as failures go..............that is a cool one!

Thanks for sharing.

you a punny man, Stiney. you stop now, you no funny

[RockJustRock]

Parts carnage is always fun. Looks like something solid got involved where only liquid should be. I often have wondered about that when poking around water jackets in blocks and heads. Lots of coat hanger sized wire from core supports gets left in there.

[Matt Cramer]

I think it was cavitation or rust that wore down the blades. The car had 150,000 miles on it, and this may have been the original pump.

[Thumpin455]

It was the snake headed aliens that control the oil business by keeping Janis Joplin alive in Scotland so she can sing to JFK over a bluetooth headset while he goes around with some purple skinned gremlins that create difficult to discover mischief such as missing impeller blades. Trust me, this is the most plausible explanation. The snake headed aliens want your car to overheat so you have to justify buying a prius to your mom and the guy down the street.

[DanStokes]

It was the snake headed aliens that control the oil business by keeping Janis Joplin alive in Scotland so she can sing to JFK over a bluetooth headset while he goes around with some purple skinned gremlins that create difficult to discover mischief such as missing impeller blades. Trust me, this is the most plausible explanation. The snake headed aliens want your car to overheat so you have to justify buying a prius to your mom and the guy down the street.

Ah, NOW I get it. Maybe......

Dan

[JOES66FURY]

It was the snake headed aliens that control the oil business by keeping Janis Joplin alive in Scotland so she can sing to JFK over a bluetooth headset while he goes around with some purple skinned gremlins that create difficult to discover mischief such as missing impeller blades. Trust me, this is the most plausible explanation. The snake headed aliens want your car to overheat so you have to justify buying a prius to your mom and the guy down the street.

puff puff pass man, puff puff pass...don't bogart....

[silver_bullet]

I keep remembering Bob Dylan tellin' us not to trust anyone over 30.... Just keep raising that number every year.... Damn, we're all gettin' well seasoned....

[Monster]

My Buick Regal's 3800 Supercharged has been running hot after getting off the highway. The problem was finally traced to the water pump - looks like cavitation or corrosion had completely wiped the vanes off the impeller!

Yes, that would explain an overheating issue for sure. It looks like cavitation, but the dark discoloration on the right side of the impeller makes me think it sat awhile too.

[SuperBuickGuy]

it still amazes me how GM can program the engine controller to basically band-aid this failure and keep the engine running. Pretty darn cool

[blackZ]

I was surprised how destructive cavitation is when I first started looking into it. You wouldn't think little micro bubbles could damage metal, but it does.

[pdub]

Everybody knows that I know next to nothing. But if that was my car, my system, I'd be freaking out.....where's the REST of it? Where did it GO? It's still in there, somewhere.