Hey my Maxima has been leaking coolant totally sporadically for about a month. When it's driven for awhile at a time it leaks much more than it does after just ripping around town. I've been told the water pump likely needs replacing, or thermostat, or many other things. We put it on the hoist and pressurized it but still can't really see where the leak is coming from. I've heard the water pump is about a 4 hour job just to get it out; timing belts need to be removed plus a water pump costs about 240 bucks! Not sure if I should go ahead and order one and change it anyways, or is there a simpler way to go about this and still cover my ***. At least just to be sure what is actually wrong with the car. Anything helps

Thanks!

Water pump is obvious.

Did it look like this?:

I would bet it is your radiator itself or your thermostat if you've noticed the heater not working/not working well.
That's my guess ATM.

where exactly is it leaking from? are you just noticing the loss of coolant, but no apparent leak? if the pump leaks, you'd see traces on the passenger's side of the oil pan.
wife's i30 had a small crack on top of the radiator that i didn't notice until last summer. always wondered where her coolant was going and was praying it wasn't the pump.

Check the nipple at the top of the radiator where the overflow tube attaches. I got careless and leaned on it while working on car; the nipple cracked but did not break off. Coolant would leak out the crack when the radiator heated up; but no vacuum to pull fluid back from the overflow tank when it cooled. Drove me crazy until I found it as coolant would disappear but the overflow tank stayed at the correct level. Could not repair; had to replace the radiator - taught me to be more careful about what I leaned on! Good luck.

There is a definite leak. I can always see a puddle, sometimes small and other times about 6-8 inches wide. It does seem to be in line with the water pump, but there's no real way to tell it's for sure coming out of there because it's so hidden! I was just hoping there were maybe some other possible smaller problems I could look at first. Thanks for the help!

My mechanic brother checked the rad and it itself wasn't leaking so I'm not sure that's it. But that does make sense why my overflow isn't getting used up. It makes no sense! Thank you!