Ditch Digger

What year ls1's use re-usable water pump gaskets? I have a 98 and every time I have to remove the water pump it takes me at least 1 hour to clean the old paper gasket of the block and pump.

WILWAXU

iTrader: (6)

I believe it's 99 & up.

felton316

I bought a gasket for 2001 and it was reuseable.

Ditch Digger

Thanks alot. I will order a 2001 gasket this time when I pull the water pump. This should save alot of time and work. Scraping gasket material is the biggest pain when working on a motor.

Assassin

iTrader: (3)

what do you scrape it with?, an hour seems like an awfully long time, your not doing it with your finger nail are you?

Phate

iTrader: (2)

Too funny ditch, I was about to ask the same question...

The gasket is a real bitch because the front cover is in the way.

Scott

Ditch Digger

I have removed the water pump two different times and both times I have used a razor blade and it still takes forever. I am going to pull the water pump one more time next week to replace my oil pump o-ring and the gasket is by far the biggest head ache in the entire procedure.

Constrictor 98TA

I can second this, when I took my water pump off my 98, the gasket took FOREVER to get off. Its more than just a simple paper gasket, its some type of fiber gasket that turns rock hard after its been on there for a while. Doing the water pump is bad enough, but at least you can hold it in your lap while you work on it, but getting the crap off the block is a pain in the butt with the engine still in the car.

After working with a razor blade I gave up and got out the old Dremel tool. I did the best I could to not gash the aluminum, but I still managed to put a couple in there. I put in the newer metal and silicone gaskets, and I gooped both sides of each gasket with a bunch of RTV, and it filled in all my little booboos, and I haven't had any leaks.