Guys recently got back my car from the shop and it has an overheating problem. I noticed that the belts were spinning the water pump clockwise instead of counter-clockwise. The air pump was also removed. Could this be the cause of overheating?

 

Okay I just checked my water pump and it rotates counter-clockwise as seen from the front (looking into the open hood). Unless your pump is leaking that is not the problem. You should run through some basic checks: coolant level, radiator cap is on right, that the fan works and comes on when the engine heats up and of course the belt tension on the belt that runs to the pump. If that all looks right you'll probably have to check the thermostat, the waterpump and the water sensor all which require the draining of the coolant, in this case if may not be a bad thing to do just that anyway. Hope this helps.

 

The pulley on my water pump roatates clockwise. Although it is rotating opposite to how it should be, it will not make a difference? Is this what you are saying?

Thanks for the reply

 

Check the fans, Turn on the fan all the way with the A/C button on, it will still work if your A/C is out.

Check your AST, if you have an aftermarket aluminum one then make sure the lines is correct.

Check all coolant lines like the one goin to the throttle body and ones under the UIM. My line that was caped under the UIM developed a crack and i could only see it when the car was when the temp was like 86c, it started to slowly leak and caused the car to overheat. if a cap line brakes dont use the automotive caps anymore, use a like with a bolt and clamp over it, it works better.

before all this add more coolant, make sure there is enough before you try to get the car to operating temp to check for leaks.

 

Make sure the belt is looped UNDER the water pump pulley. It should spin counter-clockwise. The smooth side of the belt should be in contact with the pulley, not the ribbed side. If you don't have the air pump there, the belt may contact only the side of the pulley. Also, removing the airpump without changing to a larger non-slip pulley on the water pump is almost certain to cause it to slip. There simply isn't enough belt contact without the airpump there.

 

If your water pump is running in the wrong direction it will cause problems. Look at this picture, if your belts look like this the water pump is running in the right direction. You have do what rotary experiment seven said. and get the shop manuals from the 3rd gen faq.