Wow... after spending the better part of an evening wrenching and pulling on the hoses connected to my water pump... I got it out. I say there for a minute... trying to build up the the motivation to crack open the waterpump.
I did. The impeller was broken in two pieces. It was all chewed up. I'm happy... I had nightmares of opening the pump and having everything hunky-dorey inside... That the problem would be with some other part of the engine.
I'm happy. Though, before I start up the car, I'll be sure to backflush really good... I want to get all the bits of plastic out of there.
-Russ
I just want to thank everyone for the help and diagnosis.
