How do I drive a car that needs a new water pump and is leaking....?

your best bet would be to tow it.

If you must drive it :

1 Do it when there is very little traffic to avoid running the car any longer than possible

2. Start the car and go,do not let it warm up or run back inside to grab something.

3. remove the radiator fill cap partially so it is still on but loose , to the point where you have to push down to remove all the way.

4. Carry some extra jugs of water.

5. Drive the car watching the temp gauge carefully , when it starts getting hot ( not when it does) put some water in it.

As long as it is not leaking profusely you should be ok.

Lets assume that you are going to go to the current repair shop and just drive the car to the other one.

Bring several large containers of water along. Gallon milk jugs or ice-chest or something like this. If it leaks water, you need extra water. Jugs filled from garden hose is fine.

Watch the dashboard Temp gauge. If it goes into the red, pull over and stop. You may need to just sit for a while and let it cool, and you may need to add water.

If you keep driving with Temp in the red range, you'll get boiling water and steam coming out of the engine, and this will make the engine much more expensive to repair, it may crack the block or head from the excess heat.

If you are concerned about the risk as I've elaborated, possibly paying for a tow is less of a risk. And getting help with a friend and a tow rope is possible, but 14 miles is a long way to go, and it is not legal to tow a car on a rope, so the cost of the ticket might be comparable to the cost of the tow.

You don't want to drive a car with a bad water pump because you're putting the whole engine at risk and that's expensive compared to a water pump. Before you have it towed you may try having a mechanic from a place like Pep Boys or a similar part's shop and pay him to do the job after work. This way he'll get the proper pump and install it at your home after work. The whole job shouldn't cost more than $300 including parts and labor and besides it's an easy repair even for a high school student taking auto repair classes. Good luck and I hope this helps.

You definitely have a big coolant leak someplace. Could be anything related to the cooling system. Do not drive this car or you will destroy your engine for could possibly be fixed with a few dollars, if it is a bad hose or something of the sort. Sounds like you should be able to find the leak without a pressur test, seeing how it runs low so quickly, but in any event, do not drive this vehicle and have a technician as soon as possible.

Repair it yourself or a friend, it is very easy on most cars to replace the water pump, I would not recommend driving it at all. if you overheat it the water pump wont matter anymore and you will spend tons of money fixing it. Another thing is tow it yourself with a tow rope or chain and your friends car/truck. What kind of car is this.

Check craigslist for mechanics looking for work in your area. they will come do it there and it will cost tons less. The shop is charging too much guaranteed. im or email me if you want

depends how bad is leaking.... is winter at least where I am at.... You can try to drive the car, regardless if is leaking.. 14 miles is not far.... So for you tu understands... The coolant is to keep the engine at the designated temperature... so when the engine heats up, coolant will take the heat away.. If you loose coolant does not have what to take the heat away, what to cool it off....If you pump is not working the coolant stays in the same place so does not run trough the engine to take the heat off ur engine....

Solution:buy distiled water, fill up all the way the coolant level....Distiled water u can buy, for 84 cents a gallon, is the same that actualy put ito the collant, so u are safe... distiled water has no other particles , no minerals like regular water.... Water works better to keep ur engine cool than coolant....Coolat is just to prevent rust and for not freezing... distiled water also freeze at lower temperatures than regular water.....Have one extra gallon, or two gallons with u in the car....

...... u start the car, don;t wait for engine to warm up, u do not need that. Do not push hard on gas peddal... go slow on it....the more gas u give to the car the hotter it gets....Push slow on gas. if is nanual transmition is better, while u at the crusing speed u pull it out of the gear.. let it run on ideling........if u have automatic, is ok drive like it is....Your eyes should be on the temperature gauge.... before it gets close to the red line, stop the engine...open the hood., open the radiator cap, if u get steams is too hot, put 1/4 gallons distiled water in, wait 20 sec than.. fill up the radiator with the distiled water.(watch out get working gloves, might be hot)... would cool off, wait 5 minutes with the hood open, to have the engine cool off faster.... Than start the car and drive it to the shop....

Anyway, that's the worse case scenario, the most important part is to look at the gauges....if ur water pump does not move at all, water does not run at all, so by the time u see the gauge hot, u engine might be boiling, but is not gonna happend. Why? if water boils, it boils all not only one part, but anyway water closer to the engine block will be hotter than the rest... so probabbly you will have to follow those steps at least once....top twice.. but i doubt it....Water pumps usually...have a seal that go bad, u might get sometimes oil into the coolant, but ur leak is outside... If u do get oil into coolant( u will see it, oil into coolant makes the coolant thick like mustard), change the coolant and oil after is fixed, if not, do not worry about it....U can keep same oil same collant, just becouse u added distiled water, complet the coolant system with full coolant, not premixed one...

Eyes on temperature....if u have e temperature gauge when it gets to 180 F degree stop....if u have one that does not show temperature let it go up to 3/4 of the range...but my belief is that is not gonna get there.. If u follow those steps... the only damage u can do will be same like driveing ur car, without let it warm up in winter... ( and i doubt u do that usually)..;)

Ps: if u had to drive it more than 60 miles I would of told u to get the thermostats out, so u stop less.....14 miles would not be even enough to warm up ur car maybe....

Also check the flash lights ahead of u... try not to stop, if u stop, u have to push the gas again, witch means heat again... better go steady 45 mps pusshing the gas just as little as needed.....

But I do agree with do it youself.. go to the dealer, ask for the pump sheet, and instruction....or to autozone.. is not hard, u need someone to pint it to u...get the tools u need, ask a friend..... follow the instruction and rive it home... will take u an afternoon probably since u do not u know what u are doing but you will be much happier....ask here how to replace you pump....(get trashy clothes, good detergent, watch ur fingers, and do not be in a rush...)

Ps: the water pump usually has a seal separator that goes bad.....when all that is gone out oil gets intocoolant and coolant into oil, but is a small gap...If is out all the way, ur pump might get stuck....Check the coolant see if it looks like mustard, u might see something different into the oil but usualy u get oil into coolant.....if u do not see that,u might have a chance that, the bolts that holds the pump are loosen out....In that case ur pump might be good, probably u have to change the mounting gasket... before u drive it check those screws.....I wonder before u put the car into the shop: did u lose the coolant than it heated up, or it heated up and than u lost coolant....i guess u do not know., u did not see ur temperature go up because u did not pay attention . I supposed u stopped when u saw steams from under the hood.....Did u drive it to the shop or was towed? If u lost coolant, with no coolant, of course will heat up, but will warm up, in time, more and more....When u got to see is boiling probably had no coolant in.....that means that ur leak made the engine overheating, not the pump, so he pump might be just fine.....if the pump went bad, it heated up, than the heated cooland expanded and tryed to get out, eventually was the cause of the leak.....

O dear, unless you're superwoman, you might have to fit the "tow bill":-)

On the other hand, you can always rent a "trailer" and hitch your baby then take it to the shop.

Try investing in AAA after you solve this issue. So in the future, you will just call them for assistance:-)

Not going to happen. If it's seized up, you need it. If it leaks, you can keep putting coolant in it every couple of miles. Try to replace it yourself.

A friend with another car or jeep and a rope.

A water pump usually costs about $25 and usually includes removing the serpentine belt, the alternator, and the pump itself. You could do it yourself in an afternoon.