Time for a water pump ?
Thread Starter
Launching!
Joined: Apr 2015
Posts: 237
Likes: 1
From: Henderson NV
Time for a water pump ? I noticed my car smells like coolant (vapors?) when idling at stop lights. Got to work this morning and it looks coolant like it's bubbling up behind the water pump. I attached a small video I took of it. You can see the bubbles come up right between the back cover and pump body. Does that mean the pump is on its way out... or ...?
I can't get your video to play.....
A bad water pump will leak from the bottom center of the water pump through the weep hole.....meaning the bearing seal is gone. The water pump will still keep pumping water normally no matter what. So no problem driving it to a mechanic as long as you know the coolant is topped off.....you will run normal temps.
If you have coolant bubbling or leaking out of the top or around the outer body or the water pump....its probably just a bad gasket.
.
A bad water pump will leak from the bottom center of the water pump through the weep hole.....meaning the bearing seal is gone. The water pump will still keep pumping water normally no matter what. So no problem driving it to a mechanic as long as you know the coolant is topped off.....you will run normal temps.
If you have coolant bubbling or leaking out of the top or around the outer body or the water pump....its probably just a bad gasket.
.
Thread Starter
Launching!
Joined: Apr 2015
Posts: 237
Likes: 1
From: Henderson NV
Oh yeah, that's definitely bad. Looks like its coming out of the rear cover seal. You'll likely get basic paper gaskets with your pump. You could spring another 10 bucks for the metal/rubber/whatever Felpro gaskets. I forget if a new thermostat housing gasket comes with the pump, but I put a new thermostat on with the housing so it came with a new seal. You'll need one of those seals too.
You could do the hoses or not if they are newer. It's an easy job at least. Just watch the gaskets when installing. Those things tend to fall off or get cockeyed when installing the pump. So watch em like a hawk.
You could do the hoses or not if they are newer. It's an easy job at least. Just watch the gaskets when installing. Those things tend to fall off or get cockeyed when installing the pump. So watch em like a hawk.
Trending Topics
i have a 2002 with ~70k miles on it, last year or before i started getting a very small leak with the smell so i changed the water pump. didn't find out till i was changing it (already bought the new pump) that the leak was the oem o-ring gasket between the pump and the block. so all i needed to do was replace those 2 gaskets. that may be what's happening... i didn't look at your video.
LS1 Tech Stories
The Best V8 Stories One Small Block at Time
6 Common C5 Corvette Failures and What's Involved In Repairing Them
Pouria Savadkouei
Retro Modern Bandit Pontiac Trans AM Comes With Burt Reynolds' Autograph
Verdad Gallardo
Top 10 Greatest Cadillac V Series Performance Models Ever, Ranked
Pouria Savadkouei
Top 10 Most Powerful Chevy Trucks Ever Made!
Hennessey's New Supercharged Silverado ZR2 Has 700 HP
Verdad Gallardo
Coachbuilt N2A Anteros Is an LS2-Powered C6 Corvette In Italian Clothes
Verdad Gallardo
Awesome K5 Blazer Restomod Comes With C7 Corvette Power
Verdad Gallardo
10 Camaros You Should Never Buy
10 LS Engine Myths That Refuse to Die
Verdad Gallardo
ya thats gone. The mileage thing is bs, I had one with 10k take a crap on me in the same way. Stuff like that is much more dependent on age, letting seals sit instead of constantly running them will ruin them a lot faster than miles
