Drove for 23 miles with NO WATER PUMP!!?!?!?!

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Sorry Astro, but my research also finds that the water pump is not driven by the timing belt. I don't find it that hard to believe the engine didn't overheat though. I once drove a car about 10 miles with almost no coolant in it, and as long as I kept it above 65 mph, the temps stayed around 180 degrees. As soon as I got off the highway though, the temps skyrocketed to over 240 degrees.
 
It looks like the idler and tensioner are mounted on the pump body but has no rotational contact with either of them. Easy to see why one might think it was TB driven if you don't look at the pump flange.

 
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Originally Posted By: exranger06
Sorry Astro, but my research also finds that the water pump is not driven by the timing belt. I don't find it that hard to believe the engine didn't overheat though. I once drove a car about 10 miles with almost no coolant in it, and as long as I kept it above 65 mph, the temps stayed around 180 degrees. As soon as I got off the highway though, the temps skyrocketed to over 240 degrees.


I've already said that I'm wrong.

What do you guys want from me?

The OP doesn't want me posting any more. Fine, but of the two explanations, water pump drive or miracle, you've ruled out the drive question, so, it has to be miracle.

Or, not everything the OP said can be taken as true. He mentions that was very shook up, and just drove home early in the morning. He presumes that the belt broke when the light came on. Perhaps it didn't. He states that the engine stayed cool, unlike yours. Perhaps it did, or perhaps it didn't. Perhaps it did get hotter than he realizes.

If everything that he stated (much of which was inferred, after the drive, not directly observed at the moment) was true, it can only be a miracle. So, perhaps not every observation is accurate in this case.

Regardless, if the pump isn't driven by the timing belt, then my explanation is wrong.

And we are back to miracle.
 
Originally Posted By: exranger06
Sorry, I couldn't tell if your "I'm wrong, it's a miracle" post was sarcastic or not.


It wasn't intended to be...

But I don't know what else to call it.

I've had failures, belts, for example, and they all had predictable results.

I can't explain this. Except that, perhaps, the imputed belt failure (alternator light) didn't happen as imagined and there was still water pump action. But there is no way to tell, conclusively, and perhaps it was the combination of modest temperatures and circulation in a delicate balance of thermodynamics.

So, yeah, miracle...super lucky...whatever you wish to label it...
 
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Originally Posted By: Astro14
Originally Posted By: exranger06
Sorry, I couldn't tell if your "I'm wrong, it's a miracle" post was sarcastic or not.


It wasn't intended to be...

But I don't know what else to call it.

I've had failures, belts, for example, and they all had predictable results.

I can't explain this. Except that, perhaps, the imputed
belt failure (alternator light) didn't happen as imagined and there was still water pump action. But there is no way to tell, conclusively, and perhaps it was the combination of modest temperatures and circulation in a delicate balance of thermodynamics.

So, yeah, miracle...super lucky...whatever you wish to label it...


ok, now you're using attorney words..no more...jk
 
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Originally Posted By: Why_Anything
1990 Mazda protege 1.8 DOHC motor. I picked up this old Mazda that only has 54K miles on it. The PO put a new alternator in it but the charge light sometimes would flash randomly. ANYWAY

On a drive home tonight on a long and dark stretch of the long island expressway the light comes on and stays lit. I pay no mind as this happened once before and i changed the belt and put in a new alternator and the light would still come on from time to time, new battery too. Again, ANYWAY.




The only logical explanation is, like someone else already said, the belt did not fall off until you were close to home. No way the engine would not have overheated if the car were driven for more than a mile or two without a belt. If you want to test this, just take the belt back off and drive it for a few miles and you'll watch the temp gauge soar.
 
Originally Posted By: Chris142
Early model T didnt have a pump. It used convection. Your mazda must have also.
Came here to post this. And the hysterics in this thread have me rolling my eyes.
 
My best guess is the belt finally came off very close to home.

My old 1949 Farmall has no water pump (has a fan, tho) - it's called "thermo-siphon" and if the coolant level drops a tiny bit, it stops.

My little Yanmar and Kubota tractors also have no water pump. Thermo-siphon only.
 
Originally Posted By: L_Sludger
Originally Posted By: Chris142
Early model T didnt have a pump. It used convection. Your mazda must have also.
Came here to post this. And the hysterics in this thread have me rolling my eyes.
Yah and they boiled over quite a bit too. Most weren't even pressure-ized . Most people carried water and oil.
 
Miracles don have anything to do with CARS surviving through tough odds.

I think that is reserved for more important things.

The water in the block will stay at boiling until most of the coolant is exhausted. You might get steam pockets, but the water will move around.

The oil was put into service for cooling.
 
Quite a few old engines had no water pump and used therm siphoning to circulate the coolant.
However they all had high capacity cooling systems, and the radiator top mounted high above the block, no thermostat or heater for the car either.
None of the above apply to any modern car engine.
I had an alternator belt (also driving the water pump) fail while driving on a busy divided highway some time ago. I pulled over to the side of the road as soon as traffic allowed when the alternator warning light came on, maybe about thirty seconds or so. By the time I had done that the gauge was pegged right over.
So I agree with those who say the belt was still turning the water pump until just before the OP came to a halt.

Claud.
 
OP is super lucky-I've heard of this happening on old all-cast iron Mercedes diesels that used an oil cooler, which kept things from getting hot too fast (as long as the car was moving & pushing air through the cooler), but on a gasoline engine with an aluminum head?? I'd be seriously PLAYING THE LOTTERY!
 
i would like to apologize if i was a goof to you this morning. Forgive me.

What i can say is this, i dont know how or why this motor is not blown up, head cracked or whatever. I just drove from Centereach to Prot Jeff, if you know long island then you know this might be a short distance drive but there is heavy traffic. So i drove around 25 min in stop and go traffic, the car never over heated, the was no steam, smoke or other issues. I cant explain this any more, It seems supernatural. The only thing i can say is the auto tranny does not shift exactly as it did before.

Im at a loss for words at how insane this seems.its 87f degrees out the the car remained in normal op temperature.

I guess im very lucky, i just wish i could have this luck with my health and every day life.
 
Originally Posted By: Why_Anything
The only thing i can say is the auto tranny does not shift exactly as it did before.


Without cooling, your ATF may have gotten a little cooked.

I would change it. And the oil as well.
 
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