Right under my alternator there are two parts and in between those two parts, my car is leaking coolant. I took it to a mechanic thats right near my house and he said it may be the water pump. He just took a peak and didn't put much effort into the inspection. I was wondering if anyone has had this leak happen to them and what may be the real problem.

If it is the water pump, has anyone installed or had someone install a water pump? I was quoted $80 for a Nissan pump and $520 for labor. Does this sound right?

 

Labour sounds a bit high, especially for US money, but a water pump change is quite a bit of work. Expect it to take about 3-4 hours at a dealership. In Toronto, labour comes out to about $80/hour. So that should only be about $240-320 Canadian for labour.

 

That's about right. Just did mine (um, paid to have mine done) last month and it was just over $600 for the pump and labor. I had them do thermostat (115k miles ... cheap insurance) and belts/hoses while they had it apart. On our engine, the H2O pump is a bear to replace ... even the dealer didn't really look forward to it and you know how much they like to get $$$!!! LOL!

-kev

 

WOW!!! You guys pay quite a bit more for labour south of the border don't you? In Toronto, labour never exceeds $80 something/hour.

Does that $600 include the t-stat, belts/hoses as well? If so, the t-stat is probably about $50, the belts and hoses about $75, and then the labour on them, and labour on the belts is pretty high. So imagine taking off about $200-300 off of that $600 if the $600 includes everything, and then it should be back down to about $200-300 US, or right where it should be for a water pump replacement at the dealership.

 

My friend with an Altima said that he had a similar leak and it was a T-pipe that was fitted to the water pump. It rotted away and the dealer charged $340 for labor and 20 bucks for the pipe. The dealer said that that pipe was a common problem amongst Nissan's 94-97. They said that they are replacing many of those pipes for the past year now and they are seeing more and more of those each day.

 

dude, it's a lot of money.. couple days ago, my car 98 max. leaked coolant and they found out there were two holes on my radiator. it costed $400 to replace. i don't think replacing water pump will cost more than radiator.

 

Sure it will. The parts for the pump are cheeper, but the labor is much, much more complicated and involved.

 

Yeah.. replacing a radiator is a lot easier and cheaper, labor wise anyway. There is nothing in the way to replace the radiator, it is easy out and easy in.

I have an appointment tomorrow with the mechanic who is going to take an in depth look at my car so I'll keep you guys posted. He did tell me though that if it is the water pump it would be cheaper now to have other stuff done as well. While he has everything taken apart, I might as well replace all my belts and hoses. So I figure I should because it has been 70,000 miles since they have been replaced. My odometer reads 163,500 so it needs it in my opinion. Anyone think otherwise?

 

It may be something as simple as a loose fitting lower coolant hose at the thermostat housing (or cracked hose end)... It's in approximately the same area and the trail of coolant would end where you saw it. I waould imagine that the WP would make lots of noise before a seal failed.

 

the water pump in maximas almost never leak. unfortunately, i was a part of the small percentage....... dealer charged me 550 to have it replaced (including labor). But in most cases, if coolant is leaking, its cause of a pulley or a hose.

 

Well, the mechanic pressure tested my car several times and found no leaks on any of the hoses. The leak is coming from deeper into the motor, approx. where the water pump is. My car is going under the knife and I having everything gutted to find the damn leak. Good new is the guy is only going to charge me $450 to replace the pump as well as all the belts. We will see what it is....