this happens when i first put gas on it after starting. or when at a stoplight then running at first gear...it only happens for a two seconds.
any ideas what this means? car runs fine, engine coolant seems to have run low twice last year.
water pump needs to be replace??

1/19/2006 2:55:52 PM

Quote :

"this happens when i first put gas on it "

sweet!

make? model? better description

1/19/2006 3:01:35 PM

95 mazda protege. the gurgling water sound comes during the first 2 seconds running from fist gear or when at neutral and the gas pedal is depressed slowly.

1/19/2006 3:09:40 PM

Basically sounds like you got a low-coolant issue, and air in your heater core being flushed out by coolant under pressure when you first give 'er the goose.

So you may indeed have a coolant leak; pretty fucking likely, as I never add to a system that's not leaking somewhere. And it could indeed be your water pump; they have weep holes that leak coolant when the internal seal goes bad. Lets you know you got a pump that's close to failing.

1/19/2006 3:21:55 PM

Quote :

"Basically sounds like you got a low-coolant issue, and air in your heater core being flushed out by coolant under pressure when you first give 'er the goose."

yep. coolant may appear to be full also, and you've got an air bubble trapped in the system.

1/19/2006 3:23:34 PM

My dad's Dodge Ram has been doing that for years. Doesn't run hot though, so fuck it (yeah, that's probably a bad idea.)

1/19/2006 3:25:41 PM

^yeah, rams are particularly prone to do it for some reason. mine has done it since i drove it off the lot w/ 8 miles. never cared enough to try and work the air out.

1/19/2006 3:30:45 PM

i'm gearing towards the water pump theory since the leak seems to be very subtle. it runs low every 6000 miles or so. do you think a radiator flush will solve this problem.

zxappeal: how much would you charge to replace a water pump?

1/19/2006 3:40:41 PM

It all depends. To the best of my recollection, you have to remove the timing belt to get to the water pump (even though the pump isn't driven by the timing belt). If you haven't ever replaced the timing belt, this is a good excuse to do this as well, as the change interval for yours is 60k miles (either that or 90k, but I think that's for California only).

Minimum amount of time required to do so: 3.5 hours. I'd budget for 4 @ $25 per hour. Parts, of course, are extra, and I leave it up to your discretion as to whether you obtain them or leave that up to me.

1/19/2006 4:02:42 PM

Quote :

"either that or 90k, but I think that's for California only)."

?

same parts, but cali gets more mileage out of theirs? not fair i say.

1/19/2006 8:09:59 PM

Yeah, it's kinda fucked up. Basically some law, most likely CARB related, I think.

1/19/2006 9:06:27 PM

maybe it needed to pull over and take a piss

1/19/2006 9:30:08 PM