OK...so I got water shooting from both sides of the waterpump housing...I take it off and start cleaning the surfaces for the new gaskets...as I start to clean the mating surface for the housing on the block (Dumb New Guy Question: It is called a block on rotory motor right? )...I find something very disturbing...

There are basically 2 studs and a bolt that hold the housing to the block...the thread hole for the bolt being kind of inside the water jacket to the right side...my problem is...it ain't there!...it looked in pretty bad shape and as I touched it make sure I could get the bolt back in and tight...it pretty much crumbled in my finger...

Is this a common thing?...Am I gonna be ok with just the 2 studs holding the housing to the block?...The studs are in good shape...I'm just wondering if the 2 studs will be enough to hold everything together...

I'd hate for this to be the end of my rotory motor career...hell, I just started yesterday!

 

I do not want to rain on your parade but I doubt the water pump housing will seal to the end housing with the stud missing. There are two studs on the end housing that are outside the water jacket area. These normally have a very thin shim washer on them to compensate for the difference in the mating surface of the water pumlp housing. Maybe leaving them off will help you out some. I just don't know. All I can offer is to use a very good sealant there such as blue silicone. This may allow enough flexing to seal the gap that will surely be there sooner or later. One thing I am sure of... Do not overtighten the remaining bolts or nuts in an attempt to make up for the missing stud. This will distort the aluminum housing and quite probably strip a thread or break a stud off in the end housing.

 

Any ideas on what I can do?...a J hook maybe?...Is there any kind of special sealant I could use?

 

Maybe you could try some JB weld and redrill/tap with a new stud. Just a thought to think about.

 

Helicoil.

 

I'm confused. My water pump is held on by like 5 bolts...

 

JoeZoom...I don't think JB weld would work because so much of the hole is gone....

Hailers...ditto with the helicoil...almost half of the hole is gone so there is nothing for the helicoil to grab onto....


Gene...yes the waterpump itself is held on with about 5 bolts, to the housing.....the housing is bolted onto the block with 2 bolts and 2 studs....

Unfortunately after being out there and throughly checking out the waterjacket and trying to find a solution...I also found the bracket (which is also part of the block) that holds the other bolt is cracked to the point it came off in my hand with not much effort and there is a crck in the block itself by the uppermost stud...

So now the question is.....is it the whole block or does the front part of the block blot on so I can just replace it?...Or am I lookin at a full on rebuild?

 

The part you are referring to as being corroded and broken is the front end housing. This is an integral part of the engine and can't be replaced without a total teardown of the engine.

Look on the other side of this though. If this part is corroded that badly the rest of your engine is probably crap as well. This was just the first part to fail.

 

Looking straight at the water pump/ housing. The far right fastener is corrupt. Right? Its a bolt according to you. Why not have a stud welded in its place? As for the *ear* or bracket that is broken off, how about welding the ear back on and reaming the threaded hole out so you can use a nut to attach the bolt instead of the threads that were in the hole? Just a thought. I just happen to notice that the spare turbo motor I have, has a pattern of three studs on the right side(looking straight at the pump) instead of the two studs and one bolt, sooooooooo.........weld if you can't use the next size larger heli coil.

 

Hailer...last time i checked the housing was aluminum...although I have 13 years welding experience...I never got around to welding a steel stud or bolt onto an aluminum housing

I'm gonna try an attach a really bad pic done with a really bad camera...#1 points to where it's corroded out of the water jacket...#2 points to the crack by the stud...and #3 points to where the'ear' used to be....

*heavy sigh*...i guess i'll go and post in the wanted section and see if I can get rid of some drivetrain parts...I wanted to have fun with this car...but i don't want it to drive me to the poor house either....

 

oops..gonna try the pic again...

 

From what I can see, it looks nasty. Aluminium??? Mines not. Oh well. I think I have had the same fellow do work on my previously owned cars. His name is Richard Head. His work in general, looks just like your water pump problem. He has obvious talent. You couldn't screw something like your housing without putting a lot of thought into it. Probably used a large hammer and chisel. Thats interesting about the aluminium front housing. Sorry 'bout that.