[ZLandrum]

So i just installed a new water pump on my 89 3.9. I Let my brother borrow my rover about a month ago to go up the mountain in it because it was snowing pretty hard, and he called me up saying the Rover was filling up with smoke and the engine bay was as well. He stopped obviously once he noticed that, and had it towed back to my house. When i cranked it up and looked for the leak it was coming from the bottom right bolt one of the real long ones that hold the power steering pump bracket. So once i installed the new one with new gasket and everything it seemed to run fine, but once i looked at it after it sat idling for about 10 minutes, it was a constant stream of coolant from the same place. Also the actual pump was really hot after only about 10 minutes of idling. Is there something i'm missing? any help is much appreciated!

Zach

 

[custard pie feet]

This could be several things.

1.Did you clean off all the old gasket?
2.Are you sure that you put the correct bolts back in the correct holes, if not you could have damaged the block where the pump mates?
3.Is the pully seized?
4.Could be a bad pump.
5.Wer the bolts in good condition and not rusty or worn threads?

The only reason for water to come out of the bolt position is either 1 or 2 or 5.

 

[ZLandrum]

Hey thanks for the response,

1. Yes
2. yes
3. No, i don't think so
4. Possible - but everything seems to be in working order
5. Yeah the bolts are still in good condition

As a matter of fact, the old water pump i took off seemed to be in pretty good shape too, was turning properly and looked like there was not anything wrong with it. When i removed that pump, and the bolt which i'm talking about, Coolant came streaming out of the bolt Hole... Not sure what i should do? i thought of coating the bolt with the liquid gasket goop and putting it back it, hoping that it will hold. But i don't want to jerry-rig something if there's a proper way of fixing it.

 

[ZLandrum]

Hey thanks for the response,

1. Yes
2. yes
3. No, i don't think so
4. Possible - but everything seems to be in working order
5. Yeah the bolts are still in good condition

As a matter of fact, the old water pump i took off seemed to be in pretty good shape too, was turning properly and looked like there was not anything wrong with it. When i removed that pump, and the bolt which i'm talking about, Coolant came streaming out of the bolt Hole... Not sure what i should do? i thought of coating the bolt with the liquid gasket goop and putting it back it, hoping that it will hold. But i don't want to jerry-rig something if there's a proper way of fixing it.

 

[ZLandrum]

Anyone got any suggestions on this? Would taking it to a mechanic do anything that I can't do? Please, any help is appreciated. Thanks-

Zach

 

[skucera]

The threads on those long bolts are supposed to be coated in thread sealer (not thread locker) to seal them at the block. That bottom right one (as you face the water pump) in particular runs right into a coolant passage, so it really needs lots of thread sealer. The gasket should seal the timing cover's coolant passage where it mates up against the front face of the block.

I couldn't find the thread sealer recommended in the repair manual (Loctite 472?), but I remembered years ago that I heard from a British Leyland trained technician that Hylomar can be used as a thread sealer, so I used that last time I changed my water pump. Hylomar worked great.

Scott

 

[ZLandrum]

That is exactly what i neeeded to know! Thanks Scott - when the weather looks up I'll get out there and try that!

Zach

 

[miunk]

I suspect a small coolant leak on my water pump, from the area of the same bolt. I can see the coolant drops forming on the <steering pump> bracket, and then they drip down onto the transmission cooler lines.

I have a couple of questions for the group:

1) Where is the weep hole on this water pump? Is it anywhere near this (bottom right, if looking from front) bolt? The reason I ask is to determine if I need to change the pump or not (pump was installed 4 yrs and 13k miles ago by previous owner DIY-er)

2) Can I just loosen/remove the bolt, apply sealant, and put it back in/torque it properly -- without disassembling everything to normally change the water pump? Will I lose a lot of coolant if I do this? Perhaps I should I syphon some coolant out of the radiator before removing the bolt?