• Hi Guest!
    If you appreciate British Car Forum and our 25 years of supporting British car enthusiasts with technical and anicdotal information, collected from our thousands of great members, please support us with a low-cost subscription. You can become a supporting member for less than the dues of most car clubs.
    There are some perks with a member upgrade!
    **Upgrade Now**
    (PS: Subscribers don't see this gawd-aweful banner
Tips
Tips

Leaking water pump - ideas for me?

Share this page

T

tdskip

Yoda
Country flag
Offline
So the 'new' TR6 is leaking pretty badly from where the water pump mates to the block.

It looks like the PO didn't use a regular gasket but instead smeared some sort of gasket maker / sealer on instead.

5-22-08Waterpump004.jpg



So short of pulling the pump, any ways to fix?

Pump looks pretty new - but I dont have history on it. How do I check to see if it is still good, or should I just replace it as a matter of course?
 
Replace it!

w/new gaskets!!!!

better safe than sorry....ya dont wanna be out and about , then overheat.

depending on the age and use of the water pump, the bearings may be shot also.
 
I just changed my pump yesterday. There's actually a couple of components here: the pump and the housing. The housing attaches to the engine block and the pump attaches to the housing. Usually if the pump is failing, coolant will first leak from the weep hole which is under the nose, behind the pulley. It's tough to see and the coolant will run down the front of the pump by the bottom nut.

If you're sure it's leaking at the block, it may be just a matter of pulling the pump and the housing and putting a new seal between the housing and the engine block.

I got my pump from Moss for $85 but there's different pumps for different model years. If you decide to go that route, pick up the 3 mounting studs too. On mine the nuts were frozen but luckily the studs backed right out. I ended up cutting the nuts off of the studs with a dremel cutting wheel. On installation I used anti-seize on both ends of the stud and Hylomar on the gasket. No Leaks!
 
Are the bolts & nuts all snug ?

While you could try running some stop-leak; I wouldn't suggest it for this. Easy enough to pull the pump & housing and fix the problem right. Either order some new gaskets or pick up a roll of gasket material and cut your own.

If the pump isn't leaking from the weep hole; and the bearings feel OK (no grittiness or slop), then I'd probably keep it. They usually last a long time, and usually (tho certainly not always) give lots of notice before they fail completely. And water is usually pretty easy to come by on the road; even if you don't carry a bottle in the trunk as I usually do until I'm confident I won't need it.
 
:iagree:

If it isn't coming out of the weep hole, there is no reason to replace the pump. As far as making new gaskets, very often this works better then buying the pre-made gaskets. In some applications, the ones we buy from the big three are just too thin and aren't able to cope with too many irregularities in the mating surfaces. I had this problem with the differential gasket on the TR3. Moss gasket leaked like a sieve despite all my efforts to get the rear cover as flat as possible. I made my own out of slightly thicker material, and not a drop has come out in over two months. I'd better knock on wood, after all it's still British. :hammer:
 
Well I'm glad (as usual) that I posted this.

The picture I took is mainly of the housing, which appears to be dry all the way around. I think I got suckered-in by the way the sealer was applied.

The actual moisture appears to be coming from directly under the front bottom of pump behind the pulley. I can't really see the exact spot, but it looks like it has been leaking for some time judging from the front engine plate.

That would seem to be the weep hole, then, which suggests the pump is toast. Yes?
 
Yes.
 
Time For
TEN301 TEN301
Alloy Lightweight Water Pump TR5-6 with 6 blade high output impellors to give greatly increased flow through the head and cylinder block. Excludes press on pulley.
ÂŁ125.00 Each
 
Hi Don - with current changes rates that is around, ballpark, $4927.85, right?

Actually, upgrading the unit seems like a worthwhile idea.
 
Naw, just about $247 and I'm not sure if the 125 included their tax
 
tdskip said:
Hi Don - with current changes rates that is around, ballpark, $4927.85, right?
Click to expand...
Only if you include shipping costs ...
 
Back
Top