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A water pump can't really do much to make the car overheat. It's pretty simple - just a seal, a bearing, and an impeller.
1) The seal could leak, making the system run low on coolant, thus making the car overheat. You'd notice coolant leaking from around the back of the pulley.
2) The bearing can wear out, causing the shaft to wobble, which will lead to the seal leaking and #1. Could also conceivbably seize, stopping the impeller from turning but that would be very obvious.
3) The impeller (pumps water when spun) is pretty foolproof, solid aluminum. I can't imagine one not working, although I have heard of some BMW's that had plastic impellers that could break and instantly cause the car to overheat (warping those pretty aluminum heads too - EX$PEN$IVE!!!), I've never seen or heard of anything remotely similar happening on a Volvo.
What are the symptoms? Does it overheat when sitting still, in stop-and go traffic, or moving extremely slowly? That's an air flow issue.
Does it overheat when driven faster, hard, or on the highway? That's a coolant flow issue - most likely either the thermostat or a clogged radiator.
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I'm JohnMc, and I approved this message.
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