Coolant on the waterpump bolt

[Max L]

Hi All,

 

Is it normal for the lower waterpump bolt (long M8x90) to be immersed in coolant? Is it going through water jacket? Or I have a water pump gasket leak? There were no external leaks or coolant loss.

I was replacing lower two bolts with the correct (shorter) sized ones and noticed that the lower bolt had coolant all over it when removed. Previously installed longer bolts (for long gone A/C bracket) were shimmed with nuts and washers for years, I finally ordered the correct sized bolts and replaced them yesterday. 

I did one bolt at the time, so I would not shift the waterpump and create leaks. Saw coolant in one of them that I did not like... Should I be concerned? 

 

Thank you,
Max

[Dudeland]

You may need to apply some thread sealant. A good practice when installing any water pump.  You can try to search the FAQ to see which ones go though to the water passages. 

 

Regards

 

[tzei]

None of the bolts go thru water as is but to find moisture there (long bolt holes specially) is not uncommon. If liquids stays inside the engine and don’t find each other she’ll be alright.

[Mike Self]

If this is the bolt that's at the 6 o'clock position when facing the water pump, I suspect the coolant is coming from the weep hole that's directly above it in the pump housing.  Lay down under the front of the car and look upwards at the water pump.  In the pump body you'll see a small (2-3mm) hole in the casting; if it's wet with coolant or there's a white streak drooling down from it, the shaft seal in your pump is leaking, and it's not gonna be long for this world. 

 

mike

[TobyB]

Nope, I'm with Mike-

good chance it's your pump.

 

If not, then it's the gasket.

 

And it's worth fixing either way, because when that bolt corrodes... 

well, it turns a straightforward job into something right off a smallblock Ford...

 

t

edit- in thinking about smallblock Fords, it's not impossible that a PO had

a Windsor experience, and in fixing it drilled all the way through.  But then it should leak

oil, not water.

 

Edited April 22 by TobyB

[Max L]

Thank you very much for the responses. It was not just water/condensation, it was the coolant and it was dripping from the bolt hole when I removed the bolt. So it is not normal. And, yes, that bolt is at 6 o'clock position...

I am going to check if the weep hole is leaking and if I have an adapter for the cooling system leak tester, I will pressure test the system.

Time to shop for the new water pump I guess. I replaced it a long time ago with Graf pump, it may have 80-100K miles on it. No significant play in the bearing, but there is some. Toby, I know what you mean about the corroded bolts that snap, that is the last thing I need. Perhaps I should order the remaining bolts, so they will be all new.

 

Max

[Stevenc22]

Wipe down area especially weep hole and see if it starts leaking again. if it is coming from weep hole, time for a new pump.

[jimk]

My money is on a gasket leak into the bolt hole,  There are 2 gaskets possible, the water pump to upper timing cover and the upper timing cover to block.

[TobyB]

I think you mean lower timing cover, Jim...

 

t

 

[jimk]

3 minutes ago, TobyB said:

I think you mean lower timing cover, Jim...

 

t

 

Yup, I was bending over 🤪