I just replaced the water pump on my 1.4 2012 Chevy Cruze LT. I’m not a mechanic, so I watched some YouTube videos and had some mechanic friends guide me while I did the work. I turned the car on, and the fan immediately kicked in. After a few minutes, I turned it off and back on, and it sounded fine. However, the check engine light came on. After adding coolant, it all drained out, but I don’t see any leaks or puddles under the car. I can’t find any visible leaks from the hoses either. I read online that this car takes about 6.6 quarts of coolant. Is it draining to fill the system, and do I need to keep topping it off until the system is full? Or am I losing coolant somewhere? The check engine light did turn off after a few starts. Maybe the pump needs to break in?
I’m a bit confused by your post. Did you start the engine before filling it up with coolant? It sounds like you might not have kept it filled while it was running.
@Darin
Yes, the entire system needs to be filled. When you removed the pump, coolant drained out, and it was probably already low because of a leaking water pump. So when you took out the pump, you let air into the cooling system. That air needs to be replaced with coolant. Assuming you don’t have any special tools, you should fill the cooling system with fresh coolant up to the max line. Start the engine and let it run, keeping an eye on the coolant reservoir until the level stays steady.
Yeah, it sounds like you might need to keep adding coolant as the system fills up. Don’t forget to check the reservoir regularly after you start the engine.
@Darin
Just look for the coolant level to be steady at the max line in the reservoir when the engine is off. If it drops a lot after running, you might have a leak.
Also, if the check engine light turned off after a few starts, it could just be the system resetting itself. Make sure to keep monitoring it just in case something else pops up.