Water Pump Experts Step inside!
Thread Starter
Melting Slicks
Joined: Feb 2005
Posts: 3,204
Likes: 4
From: Midland Georgia
St. Jude Donor '06
Water Pump Experts Step inside!
My car developed an oil leak around the front of the engine. The tech went into repair and called me and said "you need a new water pump". The water pump was replaced by the original owner just before I bought the car maybe 10000 miles at the most.
I go by the shop to see what was actually wrong and they show me a greasy brown area on the water pump weep hole. It does not appear to be coolant (green) colored. Do I really have a problem? BTW the Opti was dry!
I go by the shop to see what was actually wrong and they show me a greasy brown area on the water pump weep hole. It does not appear to be coolant (green) colored. Do I really have a problem? BTW the Opti was dry!
Drifting
Joined: Aug 2006
Posts: 1,326
Likes: 18
From: Los Angeles California
What's behind the o-ring seal on the waterpump itself? Is it oil? There's a chance that that seal is gone, and I think that it's recommended to replace the water pump rather than trying to put a new o-ring in. Might be totally wrong though.
Either way, there could easily be oil coming from the timing cover where the water pump mates up. So if what you saw was indeed oil and not coolant, there's a chance your water pump isn't the issue.
Either way, there could easily be oil coming from the timing cover where the water pump mates up. So if what you saw was indeed oil and not coolant, there's a chance your water pump isn't the issue.
Thread Starter
Melting Slicks
Joined: Feb 2005
Posts: 3,204
Likes: 4
From: Midland Georgia
St. Jude Donor '06
What's behind the o-ring seal on the waterpump itself? Is it oil? There's a chance that that seal is gone, and I think that it's recommended to replace the water pump rather than trying to put a new o-ring in. Might be totally wrong though.
Either way, there could easily be oil coming from the timing cover where the water pump mates up. So if what you saw was indeed oil and not coolant, there's a chance your water pump isn't the issue.
Either way, there could easily be oil coming from the timing cover where the water pump mates up. So if what you saw was indeed oil and not coolant, there's a chance your water pump isn't the issue.
Thread Starter
Melting Slicks
Joined: Feb 2005
Posts: 3,204
Likes: 4
From: Midland Georgia
St. Jude Donor '06
What's behind the o-ring seal on the waterpump itself? Is it oil? There's a chance that that seal is gone, and I think that it's recommended to replace the water pump rather than trying to put a new o-ring in. Might be totally wrong though.
Either way, there could easily be oil coming from the timing cover where the water pump mates up. So if what you saw was indeed oil and not coolant, there's a chance your water pump isn't the issue.
Either way, there could easily be oil coming from the timing cover where the water pump mates up. So if what you saw was indeed oil and not coolant, there's a chance your water pump isn't the issue.
Last edited by jakers; Dec 13, 2007 at 02:57 PM.
Instructor
Joined: Dec 2005
Posts: 101
Likes: 0
unless....the waterpump drive seal is bad & it's leaking down from it (which I doubt) because it would drip down around the opti instead of the water pump front. Atleast thats what it did to me.
If it's coming from the weep hole....bad internal seal in the waterpump.
If they're going to replace the waterpump (from my experience) replace the drive seal. I didn't the first time around...it leaked....& I had to pull it a second time to replace it after it went bad.
Thread Starter
Melting Slicks
Joined: Feb 2005
Posts: 3,204
Likes: 4
From: Midland Georgia
St. Jude Donor '06
yes
unless....the waterpump drive seal is bad & it's leaking down from it (which I doubt) because it would drip down around the opti instead of the water pump front. Atleast thats what it did to me.
If it's coming from the weep hole....bad internal seal in the waterpump.
If they're going to replace the waterpump (from my experience) replace the drive seal. I didn't the first time around...it leaked....& I had to pull it a second time to replace it after it went bad.
unless....the waterpump drive seal is bad & it's leaking down from it (which I doubt) because it would drip down around the opti instead of the water pump front. Atleast thats what it did to me.
If it's coming from the weep hole....bad internal seal in the waterpump.
If they're going to replace the waterpump (from my experience) replace the drive seal. I didn't the first time around...it leaked....& I had to pull it a second time to replace it after it went bad.
Drifting
Joined: Aug 2006
Posts: 1,326
Likes: 18
From: Los Angeles California
Yeah but it would be hard for that oil to make it all the way from the engine front cover to the water pump weep hole... it would have to travel the whole way along the spinning driveshaft to make it across. As rg951 said, the oil would most likely flow down out of that seal along the front cover instead, all over the Opti.
Thread Starter
Melting Slicks
Joined: Feb 2005
Posts: 3,204
Likes: 4
From: Midland Georgia
St. Jude Donor '06
Yeah but it would be hard for that oil to make it all the way from the engine front cover to the water pump weep hole... it would have to travel the whole way along the spinning driveshaft to make it across. As rg951 said, the oil would most likely flow down out of that seal along the front cover instead, all over the Opti.
When everything started coming off the car the tech spotted the leakage out of the bottom of the water pump at the weep hole. So I got double whammied!!!! Leak #1 Drive Seal-Oil and Leak #2 Water Pump weep hole-Coolant. It is not getting mixed together at any location.
I just did not think that the water pump was a problem. Nice surprise!
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Le Mans Master
Joined: May 2006
Posts: 9,226
Likes: 9
From: Irvine Ca
yeah, but it is not worth worrying about. How much is a new pump? You have it off or a few more bolts and it's off.
Unless they are killing you with labor costs, just tell them to replace it and breath easy.
If you don't you'll be checking that weep hole every time you hear some obscure noise from under the hood.
Unless they are killing you with labor costs, just tell them to replace it and breath easy.
If you don't you'll be checking that weep hole every time you hear some obscure noise from under the hood.
Drifting
Joined: Nov 2000
Posts: 1,276
Likes: 0
From: Ft. Worth Texas
St. Jude Donor '11
I just got finished replacing all gaskets/seals on my 95. The bottom weep hole of my water pump had that stain on it too. Did not worry me a bit. If I were guessing I would say that the water pump seal was improperly installed. More times than not it seems when being installed the leading edge of the seal gets rolled back out, instead of coning in...if that makes any since.
jeff
jeff
Pro
Joined: Oct 2007
Posts: 679
Likes: 4
From: TremontonUT UT
It is not uncommon to temporary get a little piece of junk between the seal mating surfaces. They usually leak a little and go away. If the seal is worn it just gets worse. My truck leaked about a nickle size puddle on the floor four or five days in a row and then quit. That was three years ago. My 93 shows signs that it has leaked sometime in the past but it is dry now. Later! Frank