I was almost home when I looked in the rearview mirror and noticed to my horror that I was trailing antifreeze. A lot of it. "Split hose," I sez to myself. I made it home without the temp in the danger zone. When I got under the car to have a look-see all the hoses looked fine, but antifreeze was dripping from the water pump.
I had to remove the panel behind the seats to obtain access to the top four bolts on the water pump and the serpentine belt. First, however, I had to finish draining the system, including the heater core. After removing the serpentine belt (which looked fairly new, btw) I managed to get the water pump and thermostat (I decided to also replace the thermostat as long as I was in there) off with only a moderate amount of swearing. Inspecting the water pump, I was instantly suspicious that maybe, just possibly, it was bad:
The impeller looked like it had met a bear with a taste for plastic. I bought a new water pump, thermostat, and of course gaskets. Installing the new parts was fairly straightforward, although I'm probably the slowest mechanic on the planet because I'm meticulous to the point of it being OCD. I started in the morning and it was nightfall by the time I got her buttoned up again. Two kibitzing neighbors, whose legs and feet you can see in the photo, had abandoned me long before that. Lightweights.
In summation, I'll say this: The more I see of the 986's innards, the more I suspect Rube Goldberg had a hand in its design. Not a complaint; merely an observation.
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