Hey guys,

I have coolant pissing out from the area around the coolant pump, my question is, how do I tell if the pump is shot or if I just need a new gasket? Is the pump an easy repair if it does need replacing? It is sitting at a gas station right now and I am trying to decide whether to tow it home or to a shop.

Thanks in advance

 

May have to replace pump, will be hard to find gasket only locally (usually sold with new pump, but about $3 on line. Can be sealed with RTV, if careful. The labor to remove pump and inspect and replace pump is the same. Here are some pix of mine, the water pump is same on D1 and D2.
Pump on left is old one, was wobbling with the pulley and leaking coolant. Note it is brown inside where PO had used "stopz leekz".

Close up shows scale and such, from lack of coolant changes and use of non-distilled water (distilled water is good with some distilled spirits, after the work of course). Note that water pumps, when they wobble, begin eating aluminum, because of tight tolerances.

What is on the front of the engine, my bad pump had started to eat that metal as well. Clean this area out with wire brush. Note swollen end on lower hose - be sure leak is not from hose.

Box with the bolts, arranged as you remove them, some are longer than others.

Be sure to review belt route and write it down before removng it (wrench on tensioner and push). With belt off, spin all other things that rotate easily, listen for bad bearing noise, check for wobble or looseness.

Before taking off belt check your radiator fan clutch, should be stiff to turn when cold, not spin but just a part of a turn. When warmed up it should turn more, but still not a full turn. Free wheeling is a shot clutch, and you would have been overheating at idle. Note direction blades orient toward engine if taking apart (cupped side toward block).

My bad pump was discovered about 30 miles from the shade tree, I took off the fan and cruised home, with a wobbly pump about to come apart, better to have the fan in the back area than going thru the radiator and hood. Don't need the fan when driving, just when stopped.

This is an easy job, well within the range of the average DIY. My second pump on the right in the photos came from a low miles donor vehicle (a D2), and yours may look more like that. Paid $6 at the salvage yard. But a new pump would be better. I just had to have one that day.

 

Thanks for all the tips Savannah! I finally dug into this yesterday and continuing today. I ordered a bunch of parts ahead of time from AB so I would be ready, I went for the new OEM pump ($160), but now that I have my girl apart, the pump is in pretty good shape, the leak couldn't have been coming from the pump! I guess I can sell my old one on eBay.

The cardboard bolt holder is a genius idea, thanks for that.

I ordered a new belt too, the old one looks good, but I can keep that for emergencies and have the peace of mind knowing exactly how long the new one has been on there.

I bought the timing cover gasket too, just in case that is where the leak is coming from, I need to do an oil change anyway, so I will drain the pan today (and replace the oil pan gasket while I am there).

 

Did it turn out to be just the gasket?