Water Pump Gaskets Won't Hold?

[CrustyJunker]

Okay, here goes. I just changed water pump gaskets on my '95, I used some old ROL gaskets I had laying around, applied a thin coat of RTV, and put it on. After about 30 miles, driver side completely blew out and made a good size mess. The second time, I brushed/cleaned the surfaces, bought a pair of Fel-Pro gaskets, used High-Tack on the pump side and installed the block side dry instead of using RTV, and it seems to be pushing coolant past one of the gaskets again. The pump is fairly new and the weep hole is dry. It also doesn't appear to be a head gasket either.

Has someone else ever had a problem similar, or have an idea of what I might be doing wrong?

 

[bow61509]

are you letting any of this set up and cure? or just starting it right away while the sealant is still wet?

sent from the c1500 Denali

 

[CrustyJunker]

The RTV the first time had about a month to set since I still had a bunch of stuff torn apart on the truck. The High-Tack the second time I gave about 12 hours or so before I dumped coolant in and started it. I let it get up to temp in the garage before I drove it...No leaks then. But after I drove it around today and had good pressure on it, a steady drip on the ground after I shut it off.

I'll try to pressure test it tomorrow. Anyone ever have bolts walk loose?

 

[KReePiN]

Since you had everything tore apart.....is there a chance you put the wrong bolts in the water pump? Maybe they are bottoming out before they are tight enough? Maybe you got the bolts mixed up and the shoulder of the bolt might appear to be tightened down good....but in reality not properly torqued

 

[towman]

if you have the block good and clean i would guess the water pump is warped, you say it is newer but they are all made off shore

 

[CrustyJunker]

Put the pressure tester on to nearly 17 PSI cold and could hardly get a drip out of it. I took it for a drive, got it up to temp and got it in some high RPM, it was pouring out both water pump seals when I got back.

Good question on the bolts. I don't know what stock bolts look like on these, but these look like plain 'ol bolts. There were no washers, no flange/shoulder on the bolt, and guesstimating about 6-8 threads exposed on the other side when the bolts are through the pump. I don't know if the bolts are actually coming loose, or only appear loose because the gaskets are further compressing/blowing out.

I bought some thick .100" gaskets from Summit to try something different, I think I will also buy new bolts and try some lock washers in case that helps.

I'll set the water pump on a level surface to see if there's any obvious warping.

Thanks for the input, guys. I'll keep ya posted!

 

[Sampuppy1]

Here's a thought. Check your radiator cap and for blockages in the system. Your system might be over pressurizing itself. If you can throw a tester on at 17psi and have it hold you may be building more pressure in the system that what It is designed to hold. You could try lock washers. I would be more inclined to go get the correct bolts myself. Junkyard or dealer. Your pick. Good luck. Keep us updated.


Tyler/T-Unit

 

[KReePiN]

Ive seen people use the wrong bolts and have issues just like yours more then a couple times.....and there should be a shoulder on the bolts along with washers.....at least thats what mine have

 

[CrustyJunker]

Thanks for the input guys. So far third time's a charm. I thought they should at least have a shoulder on the bolts! I think my Vortec does. I bought new bolts from the hardware store, but they only had quarter inch longer or shorter than what I had. Long story short, I reused the old bolts because I figured the hair longer bolts might bottom out in the block and the shorter ones would only grab maybe 3-4 threads. So I used:

Summit's .100" Thick Water Pump Gaskets
Stainless Lock Washers
Loctite 249 Threadlocker Tape (Expensive, but worked better than the liquid stuff for this application)

Only thing is when I got back my coolant level went down about an inch in the radiator and drained the recirculation tank. I had it up pretty high in the RPM range and nothing blew out this time. There were no leaks that I could see, so hopefully it just burped some air and didn't go somewhere else (knock on wood). Topped it off with what I had left when I got back.

Thanks for all the help guys.