Will a failed waterpump cause the CEL to come on?

In short my car is overheating, the coolant is not circulating so it will build in the radiator side of the system, then fill the overflow tank. Once in the overflow tank the radiator looses coolant causing the car to run hot Thats what seems to be the problem anyway.

I've already replaced the thermostat and bleed the system, so there is no air trapped. So basically my only other guesses at this point are the water pump is done or the previous owner blew the head gasket and tried to quick fix it. The signs of a blown head are not present but could be possible that the quick fix, fixed it enough to create the illusion that the head is fine. Anyway, replacing a water pump seems easier than ripping off the head. Problem is car runs perfectly fine with no CEL lights on, so if a busted water pump would cause the CEL to come on then the water pump is probably fine.

If the head is blown then I'm probably just going to swap out the engine since there is no point in fixing a engine closing in on 200k. A water pump would be worth the trouble but if I've got to rip off the head might as well just swap something new in that has 40-50k miles on it.

 

A problem with the cooling system may or may not throw a CEL code like P0116.

Might your radiator be clogged? How does the coolant look?