Water pump leaking
Thread Starter
Le Mans Master
Joined: Jun 2002
Posts: 6,309
Likes: 36
From: DSM IA & Lake of the Ozarks
Water pump leaking
My water pump is going bad, orange Dex Cool coming out the weep hole.
Noticed it right away and have not driven the car. I started it once making sure the opti stayed dry as possible. Car ran just fine.
Do I have to change the opti with the WP if the opti is otherwise ok? 60k on my car - am I due for an opti soon anyway?
Opinions appreciated...
Noticed it right away and have not driven the car. I started it once making sure the opti stayed dry as possible. Car ran just fine.
Do I have to change the opti with the WP if the opti is otherwise ok? 60k on my car - am I due for an opti soon anyway?
Opinions appreciated...
Le Mans Master
Joined: Jan 2006
Posts: 5,620
Likes: 206
From: Orlando FL
There is no one right answer or opinion. I changed my water pump at 73K and the opti at 97K. Some optis go 115K as I have read of some of the posts on the Forum. If you wanted to lay out the opti money now depends on your finances. Personally I do not regret the decision I made on changing just the pump.
I will say since you are going to do the water pump, there is no better time to change your wires then now. You will have full view of the opti and the left side of car for the wires. Also change the shaft seal in the front cover for the shaft drive.
I will say since you are going to do the water pump, there is no better time to change your wires then now. You will have full view of the opti and the left side of car for the wires. Also change the shaft seal in the front cover for the shaft drive.
Last edited by pcolt94; Jun 19, 2006 at 07:16 PM.
Le Mans Master
Joined: Jan 2006
Posts: 6,564
Likes: 6
From: Woodstock Georgia
Heck no!! The opti should have lot of years left in it (or about another 40k miles). Plus a water pump is so easy, opti not so easy. Just be sure you don't give the opti a bath in doing the w/p. I am lazy and try unorthodox fixes too. Want to drain the block the easy way? Use a wet/dry shop vac. I am sure you will figure out how.
Melting Slicks
Joined: Oct 2004
Posts: 2,510
Likes: 4
From: Austin Texas
Originally Posted by aminnich
Heck no!! The opti should have lot of years left in it (or about another 40k miles). Plus a water pump is so easy, opti not so easy. Just be sure you don't give the opti a bath in doing the w/p. I am lazy and try unorthodox fixes too. Want to drain the block the easy way? Use a wet/dry shop vac. I am sure you will figure out how.
60K miles is pretty low mileage and shouldn't warrant replacing the Opti, which is a PITA....WP replacement will take about an hour or 2, WP and OPTI replacement about 10 or so hours....yes, some folks can do quicker but I take my time when doing important repairs like this.
Safety Car
Joined: Sep 2002
Posts: 4,971
Likes: 9
From: The reason time exists is so everything doesn't happen at once
I agree with the others, you don't have to change the opti now. Just make sure you get ALL of the coolant out of the engine and cover the opti with a lot of towels before you pull the wp off. Since I assume this is your 94, you have the Gen1 opti which is not very water tight.
Last year I had the same situation as you; the wp started to leak and I caught it before the opti got wet. When my mechanic installed the new wp he added a tube to the weep hole to drain any coolant away from the opti. Car ran great for about 9 months until a heater hose blew and took out the opti.
Last year I had the same situation as you; the wp started to leak and I caught it before the opti got wet. When my mechanic installed the new wp he added a tube to the weep hole to drain any coolant away from the opti. Car ran great for about 9 months until a heater hose blew and took out the opti.
