So I pulled into my driveway, and noticed my temperature gauge was up around 210 or so. I pop the hood and my serpintine belt is damp and there is a fine mist of centrufligally-flung coolant on the engine bay. Peeked under the car, and coolant was dripping out...but only when the car was on.
I let it cool down, and the bottom of the water pump was wet. It was *** cold out, so I counldn't investigate further.

Does this sound like the water pump is toasted?

 

yes sounds like it, is it leaking from the "weep" hole ? it will drip on ur belt and spray all ofver ur engnie from ur belt. mine did same thing . buy a new pump for $ 130 bucks, buy a reman for $50 , or buy a electric pump for $200 .

And dont drive it till u get it fixed if u get that opti-spark wet too, " its right below ur WP" ill be toast to and that will cost alot.

 

A CSI will only set you back ~$140.

 

Pardon my ignorance, but what is a CSI?

and...

pros/cons to an electric waterpump? I see that I would be lessening the parasitic losses on the engine =more power, but is there anything else?

Thanks all...

 

CSI is a name brand for water pumps. They make an electric one for @140.00 bucks as compared to a Meziere which runs close to 200.00.
With electric, you will free up some HP and you can run them with the motor shut down for fast cooling (like between runs at the strip). Thats about it for advantages.

 

Ok...thanks.

 

Just had to replace mine on the '95. I got a new one from PepBoys with a lifetime warranty for $130, not sure which brand it was. Mine wasn't leaking out of the weep hole, but was leaking out of the back seal and would only leak while the car was running.
When you put it back together, be sure to leave off the thermostat housing and once its bolted up and hoses connected, fill it up with coolant to the top where the thremostat goes, then install the thermostat and housing and the upper radiator hose, otherwise it will not prime, its not like the old school SBC waterpumps where you can just bolt up, fill the raditor and go.
I had to figure this out the hard way...