Waterpump; which side is in, which side is out? Option A? Or Option B?

[Nicholas R]

I've been trying to search for this and haven't found anything yet.

On the waterpump, which side is the inlet and which side is the outlet. I'm guessing that the coolant leaves the waterpump at the top where the thermostat is. (Option A shown below).

Which is correct? Option A? or Option B?

http://img594.imageshack.us/img594/6583/waterpump.jpg

Thanks

[Cory W]

A. It leaves the top at the thermostat and then goes to the front of the car.

[DMCMW Dave]

A. It leaves the top at the thermostat and then goes to the front of the car.

Unless the stat is closed.

[WelmoedJ]

It's rather easy to figure out if you follow the route of the coolant in the system.
Take the radiator: hot coolant is netering the radiator at the highest point (which is the left side).
It than gets cooled while going through the radiator channels on the way down and leaves the radiator at the right hand side (lowest point).

The piping therefore is right side (cold side) to the engine, left side (hot side) from the engine.
Remember the otterstat (temperature controlled switch for the fans) is in the hot side to detect possible excessive temperature in the system.
That could not take place if the switch had been placed in the cool side; that would result in undetected excessive temperatures and thus result in engine damage.

The thermostat is used to create a shorter circuit in the cooling system if the coolant and engine are cold and aid in a quicker warmup.

Perhaps more than the question needed, but for those who want to know it may be helpful to enrich or improve their knowledge.

[Nicholas R]

That was my assumption, however I found out today that that is not true in all cases. For instance, on a 97 or newer corvette, the coolant actually comes INTO the water pump after first going through the thermostat. Seems odd but it's true. (essentially the same as the "B" scenario listed above) Made me wonder if with all the other oddities about our cars if the DeLorean was the same.

[WelmoedJ]

That was my assumption, however I found out today that that is not true in all cases. For instance, on a 97 or newer corvette, the coolant actually comes INTO the water pump after first going through the thermostat. Seems odd but it's true. (essentially the same as the "B" scenario listed above) Made me wonder if with all the other oddities about our cars if the DeLorean was the same.

Don't presume our cars to be oddities.
Thirthy years of insights, economical reasons and size make today's waterpumps probably quite different from what we have.
But they will do the job as ours do.

Should you look at the Corvette's pump you will notice there is an exit or bypass that works in case the thermostat is closed.
Has to be, otherwise you wouldn't have that short warmup circuit.