Massive coolant leak ...maybe water pump?

[Jfo]

Ok heres the deal its my wifes car and it is a 96 2.2L...ok now for about 3 months there has been a slow leak that I havent been able to pinpoint other than it was dripping from around the front passenger side about where the alternator is at..i have replaced the thermostat and all was well for a few days but with coolant loss i think since it has been damaged again...but now the car is leaking like crazy and I think it is the waterpump except that I dont know much about waterpumps and on this car I dont know where it is located at..my question is is the waterpump located under the the alternator or in that area therefor it could be possible thats where the leak is at?....more on the leak itself though ...I was watching th eengine run today and at first there werent any leaks but then after a few minutes there was a lot of coolant spraying out on a small hole that was part of whtever is mounted under the alternator and it was getting all over the belts in the car to the point where they were actually stopping mid cycle..

which leads to other issues that have come up whch is the power steering acting funky randomly and the ABS and battery light in dash flashing...my thinking is that since the belts are not working right that it is causing these other issues to come up so if I can solve the coolant thing then maybe the other problems will go away to


sorry for the randomness of this post but im just trying to get all the info out there to get help
thanks

[sunfire2.2]

Hey man,

Yea, sorry but it sounds like your water pump. I have a 96, exact same thing happened to me. The pump is below the alternator, and if it is spitting out when the car is running, it is the pump.

Hope you get it all fixed!

[Jfo]

ok thought thats what it would be..next question is do you know of any place on the net I coul dget a picture or diagram of how to change it out or should I just get a manual becuz bottom line is I dont got 300-1000 bones to drop on the labor BS they charge at a shop to do it

thanks

[me06521]

i had a leak in my '98 day after i bought the car and it was the water pump... they didnt catch it right away either...

[braden98]

i have noticed my 98 sunfire leaking in that area and i cant find where its coming from i think its the coolant pump leaking i am glad i saw this post ill check to see if thats the case