I just swapped another engine into my s4 TII, and I used my old front cover and my old water pump. The water pump worked perfectly, and did not leak before.

So I got new gaskets from Atkins rotary to replace the old ones. scraped the old gaskets off, sprayed them with carb cleaner and wiped them down. put on the new gaskets, and the 2 little spacer washers.

it leaks like crazy, even with the engine off and cold, the coolant just flows right through. looks like the seal between the pump and the front iron.

The gasket I got was very dark grey, as opposed to the light tan color of the old gasket... does that seem right? Should I order another gasket from another company?

also, I didn't put any RTV, should I? I was under the impression that you did not need RTV for coolant gaskets.

I have not gotten a chance to pull the water pump off yet and take a look, but I was wondering if anybody had some ideas before I get started.

This is the only thing keeping my 7 off the road! any info is greatly appreciated!

 

Did you take off the original spacer before putting on the new one? It might be tilting the water pump housing.. Also, no idea why you would want to replace the spacer... [There should only be one I believe..]

RTV shouldn't be necessary on coolant gaskets [except the filler neck.. For which you need the O-ring in good condition] - but I tend to just lightly coat all the gaskets with it to be sure. It doesn't sound like that would help if it's leaking that badly..

 

if it was a grey gasket then it is probably one that they commissioned to be made, of which i'm not a fan of the material they chose for some of these gaskets. i can only assume the gasket was over torqued and split.

 

over torqued you say...
yea I may have done that.

also, where can I get one of the OEM gaskets without spending a $ jillion?

@Derekcat
There are 2 spacers. one for each stud that the gasket does not go between the water pump and the front iron. That's what I meant.
Also, thanks for confirming my "no RTV on coolant gaskets" theory

 

factory gasket is very dark grey, almost black. you might wanna check also that you don't have 2 sets of spacers on there, you only replace those if they are missing.

i actually do use a little silicon on these gaskets, not much, just enough so that if there is a next time i don't have to scrape much

 

guys...

I'm not using too many spacers.
There is ONE spacer per stud. and only on the studs that don't have a gasket between the water pump housing and the front iron. The engine I bought just didn't have any, so I put the ones from my old motor on it.

I always thought the OEM gasket was beige? so it's the beige one that is the replacement?

I suppose I'll just have to pull it apart and take a look, this guesswork seems pointless now.

anybody know what the torque specs for the water pump are?

 

i don't believe mazda sells the dark grey/black gaskets any longer as they were originally made with asbestos. there are many variants, i haven't had any issues with the generic yellow/tan colored ones.

 

yup RTV on waterpump Gasket is a Must on both sides. .. Or it will leak.

 

Thanks for your help gentleman. I removed the water pump, cleaned the gasket surfaces with brakleen, applied some RTV and reassembled. No more leaks!

I reused the gasket since it was clean and had maybe 10 minutes of idle time on it. It seems to be holding up fine.

 

For the record - torque the wp bolts 13-20 ft-lbs. (From FSM)