Struggling with some water pump woes and could use some insight. When I fired "Henry" up from his 30 year slumber, the water pump was leaking though the pulley seal. No big deal, I had a spare pump that came with the truck. I installed that pump and it also leaked. I ordered a new pump from my local Napa. Once it arrived I installed it and found it leaking between the pump and block. I also found the radiator was leaking. I pulled the radiator and the pump. I was thinking maybe I folded the gasket over or something. The gasket tore upon disassembly so no concrete evidence was found. I thought possible the gasket surface was not as clean as it needed to be. I cleaned up the gasket area "hospital" clean and installed the pump with a new gasket. I installed my new "used" radiator....new hoses and button everything up. Started dumping in water and got to the third gallon before I could hear it hitting the floor.....dammit!! I am going to go out and pull the radiator and pump to see if I can see anything wrong. Any advice??
Got it all pulled apart......... I used some blue RTV to hold the gasket into place......wondering if that was maybe the issue?
Make shure the water pump surface is clean also....lots of black junk there. It may have pitting...rn a file over the mating surface. RTV both sides of the gasket, install, let sit and cure before adding water.
Water leakage See if the front of the block and the pump surface are matching well , check metal surface for cracks aswell , use a fine metal sandingpaper block and take the pits away. Clean both surfaces very well. Get your self a new thicker/better gasket and use some permatex and let the whole lot dry a few hours. Then have the permatex on the other side and place the pump, have a friend to help you keeping the pump in postion while you torque it down. Martinius.
Check your bolt lengths, maybe one of the bolts is bottoming out before the pump is cinched down. Terry
Coolant Leaks Looks like the pump face is badly pitted to me , this will cause leaks . DO NOT use a file on either surface ! if you want to clean that old pump , get some flat glass and fine grinding compound , spread it on the glass then rub the sealing surface of the pump on it in a figure 8 motion , stop when there's shiny all across the sealing surface . I don't much like RTV but it may be necessary in this case . The block's sealing surface isn't quite " Hospital Clean " yet as I can see rust stains & crud on it , vigerously wire brush it & once it's shiny cast iron then wipe it with a rag soaked in alcohol or starting fluid to ensure it's really clean . I'd remove the block's water jacket drain plug to get the water out of there before going any further , it's rusty and this always interferes with sealing . That gasket is toast , scrap it , you can make your own or bu new . You're almost there ! .
Did a little more investigation tonight......running a straight edge across the pump showed it was dished enough to plainly see daylight between the ruler and pump. :-( Back to Napa tomorrow to get a new pump.....
Yeah, I'm looking at the same job when it warms up some. Its getting really squeaky and squealy running and is burping water on start-ups. I'm guessing you didn't need to remove the radiator to do this. How long will it rake assuming there are no unforeseen problems?
I replaced the original pump with the radiator in place. It was not a real tough job, but it is tight. Sockets were dropped and cuss words were used. Since I had to swap the radiator as well, this time I had the radiator out. Much easier. Now that I have done it a couple times...... ......I would guess about an hour start to finish.
Water pump woes I had the water pump in and out of my truck at least three times. finally, Nate suggested using "The Right Stuff" sealer instead of RTV. Worked perfectly. NO problems for over five years. Andy
