ponyboy302

Hey guys! I did an oil change yesterday and noticed a leak from my water pump. The leak appears to be coming only from the bottom of the pump between the 2 lower bolts.
The pulley does not have any play in it and the seep hole is dry.
The car has just under 37,000 miles and I do not drive it often.
The light for low coolant has been coming on but every time I open the radiator it is full.
It only seems to leak when the engine is running.
I have changed out the water pump in another 5.0 years ago but I have a few questions.

1-I am guessing all I need is a new gasket and plan on getting a felpro. Should I use any sealant or put it on dry?
2-While I am in there should I put a new 180 degree thermostat and gasket? It gets pretty hot here in the summer time and now just have the stock 190 thermostat as far as I know.
3-With only 37,000 miles on the engine do I really need to replace the bolts if I take off the pump to replace the gasket(they are like 50 bucks) and should I use thread lock on the bolts?

EDIT...So I removed the pump and both gaskets were just falling apart. It was like hard plastic and some peices just snapped off. When I tried to remove the pumps back plate I snapped a damn screw head. So Im working on getting that out.

Urambo Tauro

I'd seriously consider replacing the timing cover gasket while the pump is off.

As for gasketing technique, I hear to use RTV about as often as I hear to leave it dry.
FWIW, I like to smear a thin layer (not a bead) of RTV over both sides of the gasket, then assemble, tightening the bolts only to half-spec. After it's had some time to cure, I then torque it to full spec.

Whatever method you go with, prep the surfaces well and make sure that the bolts are torqued properly. That's going to make the most difference.

88 orangepeel notch

+1 ^^^

Great advice on the timing cover gasket. You know it'll leak a week after you get this buttoned up. That gasket is in the same condition as the pump gasket your scraping off now. And I'm the same way on RTV. Just a thin film on both sides, but most importantly, a clean gasket surface.

Good luck

Jethro_N

If you have the pump off anyway, I assume you are going to replace it? I get the no play thing, but if you have it off anyway... at least that is the way I look at things anyway...
As to the RTV... I'm with the other guys... relatively thin coat on both sides.... I probably use a bit more than some, but if there is any gouges or low spots in the mating surface, the RTV will seal it off...

Just my 2 pennies...

ponyboy302

Ok so I ended up getting a new pump because while trying to remove the broken bolt the bolt sleeve cracked.

But now I have a bigger problem. I did not change the timing cover gasket and put it all back together. I started filling up the radiator with water and it started coming out from behind the timing cover immediately and alot. I didnt even start the car and it never leaked before.

Im guessing by removing the water pump bolts it allowed the timing cover gasket to shift where it may have been damaged or something.

Im hoping the gaskets I put on yesterday wont be too hard to remove cuz the old gaskets were pain in the *** to scrape off.

I have never removed or installed a timing cover so Im not sure what to expect at this point.

Edit...well gaskets came off like butter and after reading through some pages I was able to get the crank bolt off with ease. I put it in 5th gear, used a 1 foot wrench and a 3 foot breaker bar and it came loose right away.
Now off to autozone to buy a balancer puller.

Will I have to reset the timing when this is all done? I have a timing gun but I am hoping not.

I was planning on just doing a flush after the oil change. Should I put it all back together without the thermostat for the flush? I got a 180 thermostat but it does not have a hole in it like the stock one I pulled from the car. Do I need to drill a hole or not?

Jethro_N

No. Unless your chain is really, really loose and floppy you won't have to do anything to it. The cover is literally a cover. Fairly easy repair.

If you do decide/have to put the chain on it (unless there is a lot of slop I wouldn't...), just line up the marks BEFORE you remove the old chain, and you will already have your timing done for new parts.

I wouldn't worry about the hole... I would imagine that is there for some applications that require it.

Depends on the type of flush you are doing. If you are doing a power flush, then you want the system as opened as possible. If you are doing a chem flush, I would put it all back together so you don't have to take it apart again.

ponyboy302

Thanks for the responses.
I got the timing cover off and to my surprise the oil pan is now exposed.
How am I supposed to clean off this gasket without any debris falling in there or on the chain or behind the chain!!!

And when I pulled the cover off a couple drops of antifreeze fell into the oil pan.

Edit..well I got it cleaned up best I could. I placed rags across the oil pan then used tin foil to cover the timing chain. I used a razor blade to scrape what I could then used a old small brass brush with acetone and very fine sandpaper to clean the rest.

The mating surfaces are not shiny clean but they feel smooth and have no remaining gasket material. Will this be sufficient?

I dont think any debris fell in the pan other than the couple drops of anti freeze which sucks cuz I just changed the oil with mobil synthetic at 10 bucks a quart and now have to change the oil again, smh.

Urambo Tauro

I forgot to add this, it's a collection of notes that I put together from when I had to do mine: Observations from 1995 GT Water Pump/Timing Chain Job

Yeah, it sounds like the mating surfaces are clean enough. Just wipe them off one last time before installing the cover & gasket.

ponyboy302

Once again thanks guys. I got her all back together and ran it today while flushing the coolant, so far leak free.

There was like an inch of mud inside my over flow tank I never knew was there lol
When I look into the radiator I can see a bit of the tan stuff against the walls but flushing is not removing it. After the last flush the water was coming out pretty clear though.

I do have another question.
After flushing with water from my hose do I just refill with anti freeze OR do I have to mix the remaining water with anti freeze and do 1 last flush?

Urambo Tauro

Have you tried a chemical flush additive instead of just plain water? Might be able to get a little more out of there.

Some water is going to remain in the system when you're ready for final fill. Make sure that your final rinse cycles are performed using distilled water. After your final drain, calculate 50% of whatever your cooling system's capacity is, and add that much straight (concentrated) coolant. Use distilled water for final top off, and you'll end up with the right mixture.