Ive been noticing lately that my car's been getting kinda hot when im crusing. The Temp gauge reaches a little bit past the half way mark. Is this a sign of a bad waterpump? Usually while im crusing on the freeway the temp gauge is way below the half way mark. This doesnt happen all the time, more often than not though. Anyone know what it could be? I have about 59k on my car, could it be my WP

 

Could be, but I wanna give my first vote to a big, smiley faced, Walmart bag sucked up in front of the radiator. <--yeah, like that! ..or maybe the morning news.

Seriously, check that first. Water pumps seem to start leaking before they show signs of causing the car to overheat.

 

LOL. Thats the first thing I checked for. I took my car in for a service about a month ago, they would have told me if my WP was leaking right? Would I notice anything on the floor if it was leaking? Thanks.

 

I just had my water pump crap out on me. My signs were:
1. A damp mess on the underhood insulation
2. A steady dripping from the weephole
3. The resulting puddle of coolant under the car
4. Coolant on top of the intake elbow

If it drips slowly, you might miss it, but you'll have the mess on the insulation because the drip falls onto your belt and gets sprayed everywhere. I'd do as Shoebox says first. Start with the easy stuff and eliminate your possibilities.

 

Maybe an intermittently sticking thermostat? Stick a new one in there.

You can get some idea if your pump is working by opening the cap on the radiator and watching coolant flow after the thermostat is open. If you rev it just a little, more flow should be evident. If you take the cap off when it is still cold and then let it warm up, you won't have to worry about releasing pressure in the system.

 

Overheating is also a sign there is air in your cooling system--bleed it.

 

Thanks guys, Ill do all that and get back to you. Im thinking it could be the thermostat, only because it doesnt do this all the time. Well Ill go check. Thanks again!