C4 Tech/Performance L98 Corvette and LT1 Corvette Technical Info, Internal Engine, External Engine

Water Pump '85

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Old Oct 16, 2011 | 12:13 PM
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Default Water Pump '85

Coolant is leaking from the what looks like the lower mounting bolt/gasket. I just had the coolant flushed and new thermastat installed and system was pressure tested about a week ago. Don't know why/how this was missed, but it was. My question is, do I try tightening the bolt that's leaking or have the pump and gaskets replaced.
What type of water pump is best? There are a variety to chose from starting at $36 to $196. Should I replace bolts too? Heavy Duty pump?
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Old Oct 16, 2011 | 12:17 PM
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Originally Posted by CSmax
Coolant is leaking from the what looks like the lower mounting bolt/gasket. I just had the coolant flushed and new thermastat installed and system was pressure tested about a week ago. Don't know why/how this was missed, but it was. My question is, do I try tightening the bolt that's leaking or have the pump and gaskets replaced.
What type of water pump is best? There are a variety to chose from starting at $36 to $196. Should I replace bolts too? Heavy Duty pump?
certanly try it not going to hurt anything if it still leaks get some ulta grey sealant remove the pump and run a little bit on both sides of the gasket and replace no need to get new gaskets....i always do this on all my water gaskets....just as a precauiton if ure pump works keep it
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Old Oct 16, 2011 | 04:52 PM
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Originally Posted by CSmax
Coolant is leaking from the what looks like the lower mounting bolt/gasket. I just had the coolant flushed and new thermastat installed and system was pressure tested about a week ago. Don't know why/how this was missed, but it was. My question is, do I try tightening the bolt that's leaking or have the pump and gaskets replaced.
What type of water pump is best? There are a variety to chose from starting at $36 to $196. Should I replace bolts too? Heavy Duty pump?
Which bolt is leaking? Lower bolt on drivers side goes into the water jacket. You need to use thread sealer on that bolt.
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Old Oct 16, 2011 | 11:13 PM
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Yes, it looks like the lower bolt on the driver side.
Could I just remove that bolt and add sealant and see what happens?

Not knowing how old the water pump is, should I just have it replaced with new??
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Old Oct 17, 2011 | 06:09 AM
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Originally Posted by CSmax
Yes, it looks like the lower bolt on the driver side.
Could I just remove that bolt and add sealant and see what happens?
Not knowing how old the water pump is, should I just have it replaced with new??
Getting the water pump off is not a 5 minute job, I would take the bolt out and lube it with Sealer or RTV silicone or similiar and put it back in, if it works great, if it doesnt then think about taking the pump off to replace the gaskets etc,
The bolt runs thru the block into the water jacket so it needs sealer on the threads.
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Old Oct 17, 2011 | 01:07 PM
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Blue threadlocker sealant for the bolt?
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Old Oct 17, 2011 | 04:03 PM
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Originally Posted by CSmax
Blue threadlocker sealant for the bolt?
Nope. Old School...#2 Permatex
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Old Oct 17, 2011 | 11:30 PM
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Thanks for the replies..
I tightened both (top and bottom) bolts and for now the leak stopped.
My question now is..should I remove the bolts and add sealant to them or leave alone.
Is it worth replacing (I won't be doing it myself) the water pump for precautionary reasons, since I don't know if and when it was done.
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Old Oct 18, 2011 | 06:46 AM
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hi csmax, you can take the 2 bolts out, clean them up and put the sealant on and put them back on, shouldnt be a problem,
if the pump works then it probably doesnt need replacing, how many miles is on the car and do you think its the original pump ?
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Old Oct 18, 2011 | 11:12 AM
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It has 46,000 miles and I'm the 4th owner. I have all the maintance records. I don't see water pump replacement anywhere. The pump is stamped GM. (??)
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Old Oct 18, 2011 | 11:19 AM
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Originally Posted by CSmax
It has 46,000 miles and I'm the 4th owner. I have all the maintance records. I don't see water pump replacement anywhere. The pump is stamped GM. (??)
It's probably stock. If someone kept all of the records, that's probably something that would be in there. I would pull the bottom 2 bolts seperately, clean and seal. I wouldn't pull the pump out if it's unnecessary. It's a PITA. Torque them to spec and keep an eye on it.
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