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I have been loosing coolant from the water pump area. So far I have replaced the gasket twice. The first time I thought I had fixed it only for it to return a short time later. The second time I seemed to only slow the leak.

The car has been sitting for a while and I started it yesterday and took it for a short but fun run. When I reversed out of the garage there was a small puddle of coolant and oil on the floor. It is really hard to see where the leaks are coming from or if they are related but the puddles were together on the floor. After the run the coolant leak was a flow.
I am sure all the hose clamps are tight and sealing. I think the leak is coming from under the water pump but with the tightness of the engine bay and the front X member you can't see. Are some of the water pump bolts supposed to have sealer on the threads ?. Or could it be more serious?. 5.0l HO block

Thanks Mal

Hi Mal,

Some of the bolts for the water pump and timing chain cover run into the block and 2 for the water pump terminate in the timing chain cover.

I can't remember where I read it but I read that the threads should be sealed.

Hopefully someone who can walk the walk will be along shortly to give you a better explanation.

Thanks Martin, I will get some sealer

Cheers Mal

Hi Mal,
the coolant leak will not be coming from the 2 set screws under the water pump as they screw into the timing chain cover,so the only leak from there could be oil.
It is more likely that the engine coolant leak is coming from the small hole under the water pump snout,it is there behind the front brg and may be leaking past the graphite seal in the pump.
You can check this with a small inspection mirror,of course the gasket may still be leaking past,try "nipping"it up once the engine is warm

redbaron wrote:Hi Mal,
the coolant leak will not be coming from the 2 set screws under the water pump as they screw into the timing chain cover,so the only leak from there could be oil.
It is more likely that the engine coolant leak is coming from the small hole under the water pump snout,it is there behind the front brg and may be leaking past the graphite seal in the pump.
You can check this with a small inspection mirror,of course the gasket may still be leaking past,try "nipping"it up once the engine is warm

Thanks Red Baron, I am sure the pump is good as it was new when the engine went in. There was no sign of weeping from it when I replaced the gasket before. I will nip up the bolts and see if it helps. Apart from that I will have to remove the pump and look at everything a bit harder.

Cheers Mal.

Just had a look at my timing cover, all the through holes for the water pump appear to have had sealant on the bolts, i can see the remains of it in the holes.

Are you sure its not coming from the thermostat housing. They often corrode and leak.
I also once had a leak from the water passage from the pump through the timing chain cover, again it had corroded through. Could only be been seen once water pump removed. Epoxy metal cured it & its still ok years later.

Bob
The thermostat cover is good. The timing chain cover is a new aftermarket cover. I am starting to wonder how true the face of where the pump mounts is.

Seems to be the coming from the small weep hole under the pump. So that pump didn't last long. I have managed to pick one up on trade me, a new genuine Motorcraft pump. Hopefully I won't have this trouble again for a long time.

Cheers Mal.

Mal, is it worth 'pressurising' the system with the correct tooling whilst the engine is not running and cold, and you will then be able to clearly see where the offending leak is coming from for sure.

Tony, having the equipment to pressurise the system would have been very helpful. It is really hard to see up around the front of the engine . The power steering rack makes it even harder. I felt around the snout of the water pump and it was very wet and I could feel coolant coming from the small hole.
Once I had the new pump on I only had half the sized lake on the garage floor. I found another leak on the radiator hose coming from the elbow. I had to start the engine and pressurise the system to find this one.

Duke from the US, was suggesting this might work to pressurise the system without having to run the engine, which I imagine would be much simpler/neater to source the leak.

http://www.amazon.com/Motorad-MT-300-Mo ... B0067UE6IY