i have a 66 mustang 289 v8. i had someone fix a leak from the timing chain cover seal and when i got it back it was leaking water. it's leaking water from the lower radiator hose where the hose connects to the water pump. the thing is that i thought maybe the hose clamp wasn't tightened enough, so i tightened it. that didn't work. replaced the whole lower hose. that didn't work. it seems to leak a lot when it's just parked rather than when i'm driving, but i can't really check how much it leaks when i drive it (for obvious reasons), only when it's idling. also, when i drove it today i was watching the temperature gauge for hints of overheating and it did something weird. the needle was about a quarter of the way then all of a sudden it jumped to passed half way then back down really quick to an eighth of the way. it never did it again during the drive. what's going on? did someone put the thermostat in backwards or something? what would happen if someone put the thermostat in backwards? no circulation at all?

thanks.

 

The needle jumped suddenly to hot, then back to cold because you had an air bubble in the system. Sounds like she burped herself. If the thermostat is in backwards, you will get no circulation at all. So....big time hot....real quick......
Are you sure the hose is leaking at the water pump, or is the pump gasket leaking?

 

you know what, it may be the water pump gasket. it's hard to tell. when i looked under the car, there is a water trail that appears to be coming from the bottom-facing side of the hose. i guess what could be happening is water is leaking from the water pump seal and is running next to where the hose connects and makes it look like the hose is leaing. im no sure cause i can't see the bottom of the water pump to well as the dampner is in the way. i'm taking it back to the place that did reapirs and they're gonna fix it. we'll see what happens.

thanks.