Water Pump Failure

[HomeMadeSin]

2018 Yukon XL Denali, 79k miles on the clock. Making the trek home from southern FL last night (27 Dec 2024). About an hour and a half left to go, I start hearing a chirping sound. Inconsistent but definitely noticeable. Had the Mrs, cat and Xmas stuff so my plan was to listen and watch. For a while, the temp gauge was fine. Then it started edging up…so I slowed down. This helped move it back to 210F. I knew the fans were plastic but I kept thinking something was hitting the blades. Just 45 mins to go….

And then the temp climbs to 260 and engine dies. Insert FAFO stamp on my forehead for trying to nurse it home.

Got a tow from the darkest shoulder in I-95 (it seemed) to a very small town repair shop after hours. Bottom line: failed water pump. The WP pulley was loose and caused a near total loss of coolant and the serpentine belt slipped off.

Already repaired and working ok. Just a bunch of coolant in the engine bay, driver side. Just never had a complete failure of a water pump before. Lesson learned.

Z

 

[Doubeleive]

2018 Yukon XL Denali, 79k miles on the clock. Making the trek home from southern FL last night (27 Dec 2024). About an hour and a half left to go, I start hearing a chirping sound. Inconsistent but definitely noticeable. Had the Mrs, cat and Xmas stuff so my plan was to listen and watch. For a while, the temp gauge was fine. Then it started edging up…so I slowed down. This helped move it back to 210F. I knew the fans were plastic but I kept thinking something was hitting the blades. Just 45 mins to go….

And then the temp climbs to 260 and engine dies. Insert FAFO stamp on my forehead for trying to nurse it home.

Got a tow from the darkest shoulder in I-95 (it seemed) to a very small town repair shop after hours. Bottom line: failed water pump. The WP pulley was loose and caused a near total loss of coolant and the serpentine belt slipped off.

Already repaired and working ok. Just a bunch of coolant in the engine bay, driver side. Just never had a complete failure of a water pump before. Lesson learned.

Z

ya these "modular" water pumps on the k2's are not the greatest, but at least they can be repaired rather easily and cheap compared to having to replace the whole pump manifold assembly

 

[swathdiver]

That's a rarity! Glad the motor didn't drop a valve seal after it got hot. The previous generation 6.2s were known for this.

What town did you break down at?

 

[Doubeleive]

That's a rarity! Glad the motor didn't drop a valve seal after it got hot. The previous generation 6.2s were known for this.

What town did you break down at?

i got lucky with mine and caught it "dangling by a thread" and managed to limp it a few miles to the dealer under warranty @36k.
I heard it making noise previous to that but thought it might be the vacuum pump since it is right behind it.

 

[HomeMadeSin]

That's a rarity! Glad the motor didn't drop a valve seal after it got hot. The previous generation 6.2s were known for this.

What town did you break down at?

We wound up coasting to the shoulder of I-95 about 1.5 miles north of the South Newport exit. The tow truck took us to Riceboro.

The auto mechanic was on it the next day (yesterday) ASAP and had us running by 2pm.

Just changed the oil and things seem to be running well so far.

Z

 

[swathdiver]

We wound up coasting to the shoulder of I-95 about 1.5 miles north of the South Newport exit. The tow truck took us to Riceboro.

My daughter ran out of gas near there the other night! Small world. Girls!

 

[HomeMadeSin]

It’s dark af along that stretch! Hope she got sorted safely and quickly.

 

[CMoore711]

@HomeMadeSin Almost the same situation just happened to my wife's '19 Escalade ESV w/ about 74K on the clock a little over a month ago. Luckily she was less than a block away from home when it occurred. She slowed down and babied it <25mph, then once she turned onto our street the water pump let go and leaked coolant from the end of our street (about 5 houses down) and into our driveway.

Towed to local Cadillac dealer that night. Water pump pulley failed became misaligned then the shaft finally destroyed the water pump. Luckily she was close to home and it never over heated.

It was also our first experience with a repair on the aftermarket warranty we purchased; It ended being about a $1,200 repair at the dealer and we were out $425 for misc. items not covered. Apparently when the pulley became misaligned it managed to wear off the head of the mounting bolt for the water pump, so there was additional labor in removing that bolt that the aftermarket warranty wasn't willing to cover. Bull$hit I know... Fluid and belt weren't covered either. I tried to push back; "But for the water pump failing there would be no need for new coolant, a new belt, or the additional labor for the ground mounting bolt" But they ironically weren't seeing that correlation.

It could have been a lot worse, but was also just very shocked to have a water pump failure at <75K miles.

 

[HomeMadeSin]

Ouch! My charge was a little under $500 - no warranty involved of course. But also not a stealership….

 

[blue collar]

I was doing a 100,000 mile service, new spark plugs, wires, and I read somewhere on here to change the water pump right away, I made note of that but thought that was a bit premature for a water pump but then again when you change the timing belt on many 4 cylinder engines you change the water pump also because it is impossible to get at and when it fails it takes out the timing belt which kills the engine. So, it's not that far out of line I guess, anyway right after changing the plugs and wires we did a 1,000-mile trip to the Upper Peninsula of Michigan (2 weeks ago), before we left I swear I could hear a faint growling sound and I thought it was from the water pump but i dismissed it because i figured I was imagining it as a result of what i read earlier on here. We traveled all over the Keweenaw peninsula, (most places have NO cell service) including driving our 2020 Yukon Denali (on 22" stock tires) to the tip of the peninsula, a little over an hour of diligent off road driving one way, (wife was scared despite our second trip doing this, first was with a more appropriate Jeep Wrangler). Drove home in an intense rainstorm and when I pulled into the driveway it was definitely making a growling sound, shortly after started chirping (impeller rubbing against housing) water pump pulley was very loose, coolant was low, engine temps still good. I got lucky on that one, very easy to change the pump, i would not hesitate to change it on the side of the road, for tools all you need is a 3/8" ratchet with 10mm socket and short extension, and a 1/2" ratchet to relieve the belt tension. That would have been bad if it died on the off road trip, and far from ideal during the rainstorm. I will change it every 100,000 or sooner in the future. Also the Denali did well on the off road trip, really impressed some pick up truck guys and ATV's, I went slower than everyone else because I have very little sidewall but we had a comfortable ride with tunes and air conditioning and all the tools, water, and snacks a person couldn't need. The picture doesn't do justice.