I remember reading that there is a weep hole at the top of the water pump and if the bearing goes out, wears out, fails, etc, that coolant will indeed leak out. My car is a daily driver, I need her to get me to work...She's got over 101,000 miles and I haven't ever had to replace the original water pump. It's got to be getting old by now....and sinse I should get a new water pump, why not replace the timing chain while I'm at it? But I hate to think about how far you have to break it all down to get to where I want to go...I think I feel a bit lightheaded!