This forum has been awesome - way better than any book. Ive recieved good applied advice on Synthetic, an oil leak, tailight conversion, and door panel removal.

Now, the scare that I got last night. Replacing my belts, I was attempting to find all the bolts that needed to be loosened/removed with the aid of a shop manual. The below pic reveals a problem bolt.
[IMG]ftp://bobbyboy55:seventy@ftp.tripod.com/CoolantLeak.jpg[/IMG]

As soon as I loosened the bolt, I took it out, and there seemed to be a slight gumming of coolant on the bolt. Overnight, the coolant level dropped significantly, and when I inserted the bolt, and took it out again, coolant would slowly trickle out. I since replaced my belts, and reassembled the parts.

The car runs as before. A little white smoke for about 2-3 minutes on cold startup - and thats it. No white smoke any other time. Im assuming that there is a crack somewhere along where that bolt's "cavern" is, and coolant leaks but is contained when the bolt is torqued.

Does anyone know where the end of the bolt is positioned? Is it torquing into the block? Can anyone address how serious this issue is?

Thanks for the help, as always.

 

I don't see a bolt.

 

Should be alright now...

 

Looks like that bolt is one of the water pump bolts. It should go all the way through to the front housing. However, if coolant loss is not significant when the bolt is in I would not worry about it.

 

Im just worried about it getting worse - a crack propogating.

[URL=ftp://bobbyboy55:seventy@ftp.tripod.com/CoolantLeak.jpg]


[IMG]ftp://bobbyboy55:seventy@ftp.tripod.com/CoolantLeak.jpg[/IMG]

 

Is this where the crack would be in the housing?
Someone please help - I need to address the severity of this issue.... thanks for any help!

[IMG]ftp://bobbyboy55:seventy@ftp.tripod.com/engine_-_rotary.jpg[/IMG]

 

You don't have an issue. Remove the bolt again, put a little gasket sealant around it just under the head and put it back in. Nothing to be concerned with, that bolt goes through a water passage.

 

OMFG. no you didn't

j/k I've done it, too. Nothing to worry about, just take the advise damon b just gave...it'll be okay.

 

Just curious, but why did you take out that bolt if you were only replacing the belts? I've taken that bolt out too and it was severly rusted, but I didn't have any problems with it.

 

That bolt is one that holds the water pump body against the front housing. When you loosen it, it is entirely possible that the gasket between the two parts might leak a tiny bit. I would reassemble it, fill the coolant, and monitor the situation. If there is no evidence of leaking, don't sweat it. If you DO have stuff leaking, you might have to replace the gasket between the water pump body and the front housing. This is not an expensive part, but it would take a little work to dig down in there to do it. Not too bad though.

Brian

 

If you remove a part and coolant comes out... the first worry is if something is wrong if you are unfamiliar with area. The reason I removed it is because nothing was moving and I tried to remove any bolts that looked like they would be related....

- thanks a million for the help - looks like all is ok - I appreciate it!

 

Mine was same.