Big coolant leak at water pump gasket! any easy solutions?
 

Hey guys, Ive got a pretty noticeable coolant leak and Im trying to figure out if there is a way to fix it. Its located at the water pump but its not leaking from the pump itself. Its just coming from one small isolated area on the gasket. Ive tried a few coolant system sealants but to no avail and I was wondering if I could use one of those putty things that you roll in your fingers and cram into cracks and what not. Or if you guys know of anything else that will fix it without having to take the water pump off and decommissioning my daily driver.

Right now the engine will start to over heat if I drive on the hwy for about 30-40mins because it constantly pushes coolant out whenever the engine is running. It will be pretty low when it starts overheating and ill be able to pour in a little more then half a bottle of coolant to top off.

the leak is located below the water pump pulley at the gasket. I havent had a chance to get under and take a real good look but when its pumping coolant out it looks like its not coming from the shaft area of the pump but from right below and so I deduced it was at the gasket.

I need to get this fixed asap so I can drive to school reliably without having to keep one eye on the heat gauge and one on the road.

Replace the water pump gasket. Replacing the whole pump is probably a good idea as well. When they fail, coolant will leak out of the weep hole, which will make it look like it's just a gasket leak.

replacing the water pump and water pump gasket isnt hard at all, i had to do it on my last FC because my waterpump shaft was loose on the waterpump making the cooling fan rub on the top of the cover for it and break one of the blades off the fan. it only take a few hours to do on the weekend

Get some Black RTV + water pump gasket + waterpump + coolant = good easy fix. Its not hard to do. Its alot cheaper to buy instead of a rebuild. Took me a few hours to replace but thats because I work slow.

Nice, thanks for the info. I just went out and ordered a gasket from kragen and got some black hi temp RTV silicone too. Any tips on the actual process? I can get the belts off pretty easy, but I was wondering what steps I should follow to remove the water pump. I just dont want to accidentally undo/break something and cause anymore damage. Also I found a 91 S5 FC at pick and pull with its water pump intact and was wondering if that pump will drop right in my 86 S4. The FC in the lot only had 130k miles and mine having 178k with a rebuild at 173k so i figured it would be in a better condition. I might go grab it but for now I just need specific steps on how to remove the pump.

S5 & S4 water pump housings can't be swapped without some metal work. The front covers are different, so they'll hit. The pump itself I believe is interchangeable, but don't bother if it isn't in perfect shape. A new pump should only be around $40-50.

there are specific ways to put the bolts back on, taking them off it shouldnt matter as much. you can try searching for the factory service manual or haynes manual download