bad waterpump on Ka24e?

[blues14]

Ok, i keep having this "overheating" problem. The cars needle sits right in the center of H and C. Then i go up a hill to pick up my daughter. when i get back in the car, the temp gauge goes up to the bar before the H, and slowly goes back down to just above where it usually does. but no amount of driving gets the car back to the middle of H and C like it usually is. I have replaced the radiator, the coolant, the thermostat, the coolant temp sensor, and the crank fan. can my water pump be bad even though there is no shaft play and no water comming out of the weephole? maybe a bad thermostat again?

[gumby]

well the water pumps are cheap $33 and relatively simple just time consuming.

(im just guessing since there are no other replies) maybe you could replace the temp sensor, thats real easy to get to. or toss in a $7 bottle of water wetter to compensate. cant hurt.

[ddgsxr504]

I hope you haven't gone out and gotten a water pump yet but I can almost be positve that your problem is the POS radiator cap. My S14 did the same thing and I replaced everything and I still had the same symptoms you are describing. After consulting my best friend who has been a car enthusiast about as long as me, he says well dumb A$$ did you check the radiator cap? $14 at the dealer and you are good to go! I hate crappy auto zone/ ect. caps.