My water pump housing had a hairline crack near the top of the thermostat.
I bought a brand new housing with pump included. While taking the housing off, to my horror part of the engine cast came off with the pump.
Though I J-B welded the part back on, I seriously doubt the nut can be torqued without breaking the piece again. I plan to let it act as a nut to hold the water pump together.
Anyone ever have this problem?
The motor has 104xxx miles so someday I'll re-build or replace it anyway.

 

OUCH!!

 

ouch. I would consdier jb weld

 

You may need to use one of this products to fix that, http://www.durafix.com or http://www.aluminumrepair.com/ both do the same thing. watch the videos

 

That part is iron isn't it? If so you could probably find someone to weld it for you for next to not much. Alluminum is alot harder to weld BUT it can be done for probably a reasonable price as well.

Either way, I feel for you.

 

I've heard of these breaking when people don't use the washer/thin spacer and tighten them hard. I believe there are a couple of places which require these washers.

 

So that is waht those are for! Haha I hope I put mine in

 

if its metal weld that ******* bitch

 

that is a cast iron end plate, it would not be hard to have a shop welb it back on to the plate via the sides and rear of the broken piece

 

I have the same issue. Im going to have it welded and see if that cures it. Just make sure to get the spacers for for the waterpump housing after repairing it. If that doesnt work, the front iron has to be replaced....b00.

Is the front "iron" actually iron or is it aluminum? I need to know so i can let the person who will be welding it know.

 

its cast iron

 

+1 for cast iron - the rotor housings are aluminum, but the other 3 irons, are, indeed, iron.

 

sweet. I'll be getting this taken care of soon...I might have to find a mobile welder to come to my house tho lol

 

never heard of that before i would go with what augie was sayin and get it welded good luck with the fix

 

you can have that welded, i dont remember the filler rod # but its around due to people overporting there intake ports and haveint to fill the holes

 

I would have sworn it was aluminum cast but checked it today with a magnet, it's cast iron.
Those two thin washers were missing and almost sure that's what broke the ear off. I'm guessing it's been like that since I bought the car.

I'm looking for a mobile welding truck as well. I have a stick welder but only a few hours of experience. Hoping the heat from the welder doesnt break more stuff.

The two thin washers go on the two studs to the left. Other two studs are on the water pump portage.

Thanks for all the responces.

 

just make sure they weld it slowly not to let that area heat up too much, have them take their time.

is this like a white s4 curse hehe

 

Easiest way to remember where the water pump washers (or) spacers go, is they go on the studs where the gasket does *not* go. FSM Chapter 3 "Cooling", page 9, bottom of page. BTW, tightening torque of water pump assembly to front iron is 13-20 Ft-lb.

 

I would seriously try jb weld......your supposed to torque that thing to like 20ft lbs anyway...not much...give it a try

 

if i tired JB weld and it didnt work, how much of a mess would that make to clean up to get it welded?

 

hmmmm i checked out their site and their industrial weld sounds like it might work.... I might just give it a try first.

http://jbweld.net/products/industro.php

 

I'm thinking real welding FTW. If you managed to break it off the factory casting, then JB Weld ain't gonna have **** on you. Whatever else you put on it is just going to make it harder to weld later.

 

the reason it broke was because the original owner didnt use the spacers on that housing mount. Im thinking as long as i get the correct spacers and torque it to spec it should be fine...

 

Good luck with it, then, I hope it works for you. Let us know how it goes.

 

I'm glad to report it worked!
I didnt use J-B Weld but Perma-Poxy made by Permatex.

It had almost a week to cure because the weather here in Pa. has been rainy and cold.
Tonight I got a chance to install the new pump housing that included a gasket and the two thin washers.
First I hand tightened the four nuts, then torqued 5 lbs. at a time all the way up to 17lbs.



New pump torqued in place.



Guess the next step is to see how the 'weld' reacts to the engine expanding and contracting.
Hope to be on the road by this weekend.