Alright, first, thank you in advance for any help and advice and please bear with me as I am somewhat of a newb. Help me save my car! Here is my situation: I was driving on the freeway about a week ago when my car suddenly began to overheat. I pulled over, let it cool and started it the next day. When I did, the idle was rough and white smoke (steam) was coming from the tailpipe and there is water in the oilpan. So, bad news; I know. However, the old girl will still run -- even though the water in the coolant system drains to the oil pan and burns off -- and if I stay moving it won't overheat. Once at operating temp, it drives, has no loss of power and seems fine, other than the overheating at stoplights. Upon inspection at idle, the waterpump is making a grinding, spun-bearing sound, and so my question is the following: could a broken water pump have caused the initial overheat and, could a break in the waterpump allow water to get to the oil pan, or is it much worse by now? Obviously, a bad waterpump is fixable; what should I check to see if it is in fact the water pump, and where else would a leak drain to the water pan -- (I am thinking head gasket...)? I know this is one of the worst situations possible, but I love this car and I don't want to give up on her. Can anyone help me?! Thank you so much for your consideration!

 

Headgasket.

Regards, Andrew.

 

Do a Cooling system tune up like the : water pump,hoses, check that the cooling fan its working as is shlould then as typhoon said u mighthave a blown headgasket. hope this helps

 

Alright, after inspecting it, the waterpump is leaking. There is water around the hoses and on the block where it has shot out. I know that it seems like a head gasket -- that would explain the water in the oil pan -- but is it possible that a leak in the water pump could also create the same result? Blown head gasket is significantly more of a pain in the neck than replacing a water pump. Has anyone had a similar problem remedied with replacing the water pump? It seems that the trouble originated with the pump, and maybe even just the thermostat, and I can only hope that it has not progressed to the head gasket. Is it possible that there could be water in the oil pan with the head gasket in tact? Is it worth replacing the pump?

 

If the car overheated due toa badwaterpump it couldnot cool enough the car it blown the head gasket and that could be the result of a bad water pump so u might need to replace the waterpump,thermostar,headgasket. is not an easy job but if u now a little about mechanic u could do the job and u can save some bucks

 

You had/have a rough idle, steam in tailpipe, coolant in sump and all this after an overheating event.
You have a blown headgasket, the longer it stays this way, teh more it will cost to repair. Pull your spark plugs, I bet one or more is very clean........
I havetried to convincemyself in teh past with blown headgaskets as well, tear it apart now and save your bearings, cylinder bores etc. Please don't drive the car if you want to keep this engine intact.
It is not possible for a water pump to leak coolant into the sump.

Regards, Andrew.