How to tell if the water pump is going bad?
 

A few months after I bought my IS350, it started making a strange sound but I thought it was normal since it wasn't a nasty or a very noticeable one. But then after meeting some local IS owners, theirs doesn't make the same sound so I know something is up with mine. I was going to bring it into the dealer to check it out and hopefully it was done under warranty. But then I got into an accident and my car is still being fixed right now. But now my car is getting worse, the heater doesn't work until the engine speed is over 3K RPM and it almost overheated yesterday when I noticed the needle was right over "H" in just driving 2 miles. Also, there's coolant leaks somewhere since the under panels have a pink residue. I tried adding more coolant in case I was low but after turning on the car, the tube on the overflow tank drained what I poured it so I guess it's good on coolant. Any ideas?

I'll go to the dealer eventually but not until my car is 100% fixed from the accident because I don't want them to blame it on the accident (it was not) when the problem was there before.

find where it is leaking coolant, fix that first... chances are it is low and only giving you heat at higher rpm because that is the only time there is enough movement in the system to get it into the heater core...

now, once your leaks are gone, is the noise still there?

if so, it could be a number of things, including water pump, idler pulleys, alternator, power steering, etc...

I've tried adding coolant in case but it drains out whatever I put in from the overflow tank when I start the car. It's also at the max line on the tank too when cold.

Check your thermostat. Does the top hose get hot? Take a long handle screwdriver. Plase the blade on the waterpump and put your ear on the knob of the handle. You will be able to hear if the bearings are gone.

What type of sound would I expect to hear if the bearings are bad? The top hose from the engine to the radiator gets hots after about a minute of the engine running.

You are adding to the overflow or the radiator?

Check to see if the odd sound you hear matches what you hear with the screwdriver. If it doesn't, go around to other moving parts such as the power steering pump to see what matches the odd sound.

If the hose was cold then became hot, your thermostat opened. The only question with that is did it open at the correct temp?

Thank you so much for bringing that up lol. :thumbup: I feel like such a noob now cause this actually fixed my heater issue. I've been adding to the overflow tank since my engine cover hides the radiator cap so I never thought about it. When I opened it, the inside was dry. I remember months ago when the heater worked that I brought my car into Auto Tech class to test radiator caps and noticed the coolant filled all the way up to the cap when I took it off. So I filled the radiator this time until it was full then squeezed the hoses and that left some air bubbles out. I ended up pouring about half a gallon of coolant in and now that heater blows out super hot air right after I fired up the car. Thanks again!

Okay thanks, I was about to do this but when I realized that the water pump spins, I couldn't put a screwdriver next to it or on it. I listened closely and I can tell it comes from the water pump. Also, I noticed when I squeezed the coolant hoses, that whenever it makes the sound, I can feel pulsations in the coolant going through the hoses so I can say it's the pump. Thanks!