Despite the transmission issues, the valve guide issues, and the rust, I had been continuing to drive the Sentra because I love to drive it more than my other car. But, as with all vehicles, there comes a time where you just have to park it indefinitely.

A little over a month ago I saw that we were going to be getting a rather bad snowstorm so I had to drive the Sentra because it is way better in the snow. I warm it up, hop in, and drive it to the next town about 30 miles away via the Interstate Highway which means 70 – 80pmh the whole time.

The whole day was warmer than expected but it was raining a lot so nothing the car could not handle. However, towards the end of the night I was driving from one campus to another when I heard this dull “thud” and then things got strange. My wipers were slower but the car ran fine and my headlights still worked. I continued on my path, it was only a couple miles, but soon I saw my temperature go up fast and then I really had to stop.

Just to be safe, I parked the car on a hill so in case it wouldn’t start I could at least force it to run. I got out in the rain and looked under the hood. I could see the problem right away and yep, not good. The bad part about this car is that some parts are REALLY difficult to replace but the good thing about the car, at least in this case, the plastic under the front of the engine is still there because that is where the pulley to my water pump was sitting. If it wasn’t for that plastic, it would have been lost in the darkness and the rain two miles back at the other site.

Okay, so this is bad but not terrible. I tried to fix it but the rain was cold and I was running out of options so I grabbed the belt and the pulley then started the car and quickly drove it to my office with only the parking lights on. The storm was coming and I didn’t want to mess with it anymore so I went inside and spent the night on the floor.

The next day I called up NAPA and ordered the pump but the storm was in full force so I spent another night before I could get a ride home. Eventually I got the new pump but I had to wait until it got warm enough to actually put it on. In the meantime I got a good look at what had happened. What it was is that the flange, which is normally pressed onto the water pump shaft, had cracked and became just loose enough to slide right off.

Putting on the new pump in the parking lot of my office building was a chore and it wasn’t ideal. I did manage to get it on but it isn’t perfect and leaks just a little bit. After fighting with it for a couple days I finally just decided to drive it home and keep an eye on the water level. I had to stop once because the thermostat finally opened and drained all that I had in the radiator but after topping it off, I got it home with no issues.

Since that day, the car has just sat until it can warm up enough for me to work on it again. The problem is, with the Polar Vortex going on, warm weather doesn’t appear to be coming any time soon. So the car has been parked. Every now and then I start it up just to make sure the battery is good and so far no problems there. When I get this issue resolved, then we will get back to adventuring and hopefully more posts.