Holy smokes! A bad water pump!
That's nothing! I just bought a 2nd vehicle. I bought a 1996 Dodge Dakota so I didn't have to use my Contour for hauling stuff that I didn't want to get all over my car.
Well, I think my luck is a little worse then yours.
1st off, we changed the antifreeze out of the radiator last weekend. And it looked like SLUDGE! After many flushes, we decided to put the radiator fluid back in. Well, shortly after this, there was white smoke coming out of the tailpipe. Yep, bad head gasket.
And no, we aren't done quite yet.
The guy who had this truck before me never changed anything except for the oil and tires.
He never changed the spark plugs/wires. Tranny fluid (we don't know if he changed it or not, it looked red, but we'll change it to be on the safe side).
Also the gas gauge never worked so we'll fix it as well as changing the fuel filter.
Also we decided to change the serpentine belt as well.
So far, all of the parts listed above cost me $250. That doesn't include what I will pay my friend to do it, as well as how much it costs when he takes the head out and brings them into a machine shop.
So, I am sure I am at least spending $500 + to fix this beast.
But that's ok with me. I'll fix it. I really like my truck, once it is back on the road. I haven't even had thsi truck for a month, (I put less the 1,000 miles are on it too).
Fix it and drive on.
