ZetaVeinteOcho

The engine is brand new, a year old with 1,800 miles on it only. I barely drive the car...I baby it way to much actually! Antifreeze and oil levels are fine. Its an 02Z but I didn't change the water pump when I got the new engine and used the same old one.

after about 10 mins of running outside to warm up the car I noticed a bunch of water spots splattered all around the bay. they are blackish. I don't see any leaks around the engine except near the water pump and pulleys. The car has antifreeze. the oil on the dipstick is normal.

The water has a used antifreeze-ish smell. but its not green, its blackish. The pulley are wet and so is the front sway bar. Im thinking maybe its just a leak and the black color is dirt/grease..etc


Any ideas? I hope its either the pump going out/seal/hose and NOT oil mix with water because that would suck. again, this is only happening at the front of the engine. Its near freezing so I can't go outside to get under there to see what it could be


here's a pic of the drops
http://i286.photobucket.com/albums/ll97/Zoilus_LS1/misc/Leak_003_zps74dfc5e7.jpg[/IMG]



this is where most of the water landed because of the direction the pulleys were spinning


Here you can see where the red sway bar is wet as well as other areas. the black stuff on sway bar has always been there its just dirty. but the water drops of course are new

trans_am7935

iTrader: (15)

did you touch the drops, smell, or feel them? you should do this, as it will give you a better idea what it is. 2 things i think it could be, waterpump (due to black color of the coolant) or the crank pulley seal on the timing cover is bad, slinging oil slowly into the engine bay

Youngblood16

Agreed, obviously if it feels slick in your hand it is oil. if you can find a big enough drop you should be able to get a pretty good amount on your hand.

If it isn't oil though, couldn't it also be a possible leak from the coolant crossover tubes on the top?

1964_442

iTrader: (5)

Maybe its black because of the washing effect on the belt, can be a faulty water pump. Let the car get into operating temp, turn it off and inspect slowly with a hand flashlight

JohnS Z28

iTrader: (1)

almost guarantee its the water pump, i changed mine last summer and it leaked all over the belt and plenty on the sway bar. black is probably just dirt/dust.

ZetaVeinteOcho

yepp I put the drops on my finger. you can see that its water mixed with something. it feels a bit slick but very very little. and it smells just like when you uncover the radiator...it has that used radiator fluid smell to it

I just changed my oil about 700 miles ago, I use 100% syn. I checked the dipstick and its still medium yellowish/brown in color with plenty of clarity, not black at all.

ZetaVeinteOcho

yeah, I checked all the top hoses...and nothing seems to be leaking.

I thought it was dirt and grime...but every single drop all over the engine bay is black. I thought that if water was spewing out from somewhere it would catch dirt and stuff, but some of the drops should be clear and some black, but every single drop being black, just makes it seem like the water that is leaking or spewing out is coming out that way.

Im going to dip something in the radiator and see what color the coolant is in there.

I just hope that there is not water and oil in the engine...I don't think so tho, I don't see smoke of any color, there's no misfiring and the car sounds like a champ so hopefully its just the pump

jrpimp00

iTrader: (17)

Clean it all up and idle the engine up to temp and have some one rev it up. Bet you have some pin holes

ZetaVeinteOcho

Well ...yeah it looks like the water pump. There is a loud "chirping" sound and now some rattling noise too coming from the water pump . It sounds like some crap inside has just given out. it splatters water now but its not blackish anymore, so that's good.

I guess it's time to change it out. I definitely want a GM one. I thought GM made a "heavy duty" one for LS1's? Or am I imagining it? I can't seem to find it online, just oem, which is ok anyway.

Youngblood16

There is probably an aftermarket one which is an "upgraded" unit, but it would be expensive. I would stick with the stocker/ oem. One of my friends engine builders builds 600-700hp NA/ NOS motors and still uses the original GM oil pumps, no aftermarket oil pumps even though there are PLENTY out there. Point being don't overspend and/or overcomplicate when you don't have to. Now on another note, a pump from a more severe duty engine LS 3,6,7 etc might fit but I am unsure.

Grimes

iTrader: (3)

sucks, sorry to hear, but the water pump is not that bad to change out. Make sure you get the right thermostat or reuse your old one.

Holloway5

Water pump install is pretty straight forward, I did it last fall. Here is a thread I followed to do it
https://ls1tech.com/forums/general-m...placement.html

Pretty much all in the 2nd post