If it took a while for an engine to overheat I wouldn't say it would be a problem to keep your eye on the temp guage. Unfortunately, once that pump quits, it may be 5-8 seconds (maybe quicker than that) before it's in the red. I honestly don't look at my temp guage every 5-8 seconds. It's in my scan but not often enough to feel comfortable that I could catch it while it's moving in to the red. It would be a gamble at best. Plus, if you have other things going on either inside or outside of the car, you may look at it even less frequently than one would like. You have to admit, a red warning light in your face from the instrument panel is much easy to catch than that guage.
