i've searched and read the threads on water leaks. I obviously know that I need to change my water pump and that will happen this weekend.

my question (for future reference) is, when the water pump leaks, how consinstent is the leaking? does it leak all the time? does it leak every now and then or only when it's malfunctioning?

my coolant was boiling so i did a pressure test last weekend and had to replace my rad cap. after the pressure test, i drove it for a while and it started to heat up (5/8ths) i shut if off and noticed the water pump was leaking. It hasnt leaked since but the when i drive it for 10-20 min, it will start to heat up every now and then. I'll shut if off, check under the hood, but i see no leaking out of the water pump. it confuses me, but i'm just gonna replace to be on the safe side.

oh one last thing, is there any where that sells that friggin donkey dick of a rad fill arm gasket or should i just rtv it? that thing is such an eye sore and i'm wondering if there is even a shorter one. any ways, thanks in advance guys!

 

First.. the rad fill arm.... Thought that it was an "o" ring... been a while.. ANYWAY... mazdatrix will have it whatever it is..

ALSO... if your overflow bottle is attached to the rad fill arm... you don't want to shorten it.... I did that with my Koyo and it cause ALL sorts of problems... Its that long so that it is as high as the water neck... if you shorten it... guess what.. it will be below the coolant level in the water neck and your upper rad hose will suck together every night because the coolant will not be able to come back from the overflow bottle because the air is all in the upper rad hose... (i shortened my Koyo's arm, re-weled the cap fitting back on.... then had to go and get a new rad cap fitting with the overflow nipple on it and put it on the water neck because the upper rad hose was sucking shut every night and the damn "add coolant light would come on...., that alleviated the problem!!!!)

Water pump.. it it ever leaked.. it needs replaced... NOW THEN... check your water pump HOUSING for corrosion while you have the water pump out... I've seen a house that was so eaten up from bad coolant that it effectively destroyed the ability of the water pump to move water..... I found this out after changing a pump on an over heating car, and the thing STILL ran hot... took the pump off and took a good look at the housing... it was rotten to the core, right at the bottom where the water lays.. replaced it with one that looked good from the boneyard, re-installed the pump.. and Wha-la.. problem solved...

If you have to take the housing off.. make sure you shim the two bolts to the passenger side that don't have the gaskett on them.. use similar thickness gaskett material.

 

great to know about the fill arm now, that could have caused me a lot of problems. your right, "o" ring is the term, my brain farted while writing.

these "shims" for the outer bolt of the water pump housing, are they already there? do i have to be carefull not to lose these... or do I have to go buy new ones every time?

thanks again

 

The shims are basically just little donuts of gaskett material that you put on between the front iron and the water pump housing.. otherwise, you could end up with some mating problems because there is a gaskett over four of the bolts, but not on the two on the right.. like 1/32 difference. COULD cause somw warpage or sealing problems..

Honestly, I bet MOST guys don't bother with it...... but..... they SHOULD be on there!

I just use two pieces of the old gaskett if they didn't give me new ones.. that is, if you can get it off without tearing the holes.. if you can get two pieces of the old gaskett off where the bolt holes are, use that!!

SOMETIMES.. if you look at the housing or the front iron... the old shim will still be stuck there... if so... just leave it there!! (ie... don't shim it twice!!!)

FINALLY... if you're not taking the housing off, just replacing the water pump... don't worry about shims because you only need to shim the housing to the Iron.. the water pump has a gaskett all the way around it!!!!!!

 

my water pump came with two gaskets. one for the pump and the other for the housing so I might as well switch them both since I'll be in there anyway. it even came with an o ring, but not sure where it goes. thanks for all your help bro, you da man!

 

The 'shims' are 0.020 thick steel washers. They are on the 2 long studs on the pass side.