Da' Drip .... Drip .... Drip ....

[jymwhi]

Got out of the ole' SHO today and noticed some slight steam coming from under the passenger side of the hood. raised the hood and all I saw was a little steam. It smelled like anti-freeze but from the top of the engine I couldn't see any liquid at all. I crawled under the car and could see a small amount running on the exhaust pipe and of course that was where the smell & steam were coming from. My question is, does this sound like the "dreaded" water pump? From the looks it appears that that is the only place (other than the cylinder head) it could be coming from. The car did not overheat or has it over heated and it has 73,000 miles.

Thanks!

Jim White

 

[sdpatt]

If you get down on your knees and look under the crankshaft damper at the bottom tab of the lower timing belt cover, do you see a drip of coolant hanging from it? If so, then you are due for a new water pump. If there is a drip of oil hanging there, the front main crankshaft oil seal is also in need of replacement. The remanufactured water pump is about $65 and the front main seal is $8. Are you due for a new timing belt? Might as well change it for $32 since it has to come off to work on the water pump. Accessory belts too.

 

[pjtoledo]

jymwhi:
Got out of the ole' SHO today and noticed some slight steam coming from under the passenger side of the hood. raised the hood and all I saw was a little steam. It smelled like anti-freeze but from the top of the engine I couldn't see any liquid at all. I crawled under the car and could see a small amount running on the exhaust pipe and of course that was where the smell & steam were coming from. My question is, does this sound like the "dreaded" water pump? From the looks it appears that that is the only place (other than the cylinder head) it could be coming from. The car did not overheat or has it over heated and it has 73,000 miles.

Thanks!

Jim White

You may be able to buy a few months time on that pump, just reduce the tension on the belt. Some small leaks actually go away doing this. The belt pulls on the w/p shaft, distorting the seal. By no means a permanent fix, but easy to do.

Perry Toledo,Ohio

 

[SHOMA]

first off, reach in when you wont burn your hand, and feel the waterpump pulley... if it has a LOT of play, you should get it fixed soon, if not very much, take your chances, I know with my 95 mTX as soon as I started noticing the smell, I checked my pulley, and that night it was actually making a noise from the shaking pulley, its all done now, wasnt too bad to do... only 3.5 hours or something, am I right? GOOD LUCK!
Kevin

 

[jymwhi]

Thanks for all the replies.

It turned out to be the dreaded water pump. So I replaced the whole gambut ... pump, timing belt, CPS & front seal.

Thanks again!

 

[jymwhi]

Kevin,

I like those chrome tailpipe extensions. Were did you pick them up at?

Thanks!