Water pump

[MikeJ25402]

I replaced my water pump a few months ago and it wont stop leaking though i've had the pump off around 4 times so far. i've cleaned the mating surfaces of both the block and the pump, i use super-blue rtv and fel-pro brand gaskets, i've even taken a straightedge to them both, yet it still leaks. is there a possibility of my block being warped? each time it starts leaking its always on the passenger side, it's odd and i'm about fed up with it. any help would be appreciated fellas.

[Danzcameo]

Are there any of the bolts that screw into a waterjacket? maybe they need some sealant also

[Tink]

Did you replace your hoses? If not are they in good shape? I've had a split hose make me think the water pump was at fault because it leaked down and ran off the bottom of the pump.

[Junksterr]

what year make and model of truck? My 4.3 01 has a leaky water pump but my whole block is gunked up from that orange antifreeze I have replaced the pump only for it to start leaking again 2 months later. So it is thus parked awaiting me to free up some time to swap motors out.

[spideyjected]

Did you put the thread sealing locktite on the bolts?

[firefighter]

What Spidey said.......

[12sws27]

Are you using a torque wrench. You can over tighten one bolt to much and mess up the gasket. Should tighten the bolts down in a sequence also. It's not as important with the 4.3's since they're water pumps only have 4 bolts but very important on some engines that their pumps have a sh!t load of bolts.

[12sws27]

Also change the by-pass hose and heater hose going from the pump to the intake.

[Jay-Sliver]

IIRC one or two of the bolts thread into a water jacket. Pull all the bolts and put some threaded pipe sealant on the threads of the bolts.


Jay

[Creatine]

Gonna agree with everyone here, I had a leak because of the bolts last time. Just needed some locktite

[Jay-Sliver]

Should say Teflon Sealant, I prefer the goo over the tape. I use the goo daily at work with hydraulic fittings that are pipe thread. The goo works well, never had an issue. I used the same stuff on my wp bolts a couple years back when I did mine.

Jay

[dave1182]

Don't use locktite on the waterpump bolts unless its blue, but i would rather you use Silicone sealent on the threads, take the water pump off and on the backside of the pump inself, 2 things, 1st check the intergity of the seal itself to the back of the pump, 2and: make sure all the bolts on the back of the pump are tight, when installing the surface put sealent on both sides of the gasket between the waterpump and block, use pipethread pipe dope on the pipe thread that the heater hose connects to, also replace that heater hose now since you got everything off, get a cooling system pressure tester and test the system after you have it reassembled, look for any leaks, I use rtv copper on the side of the gaskets that meet the block and gasket shelac on the side that meets the waterpump. Good Luck.

[slim]

in the 13 or so years i have had my truck i have put 5 waterpumps on it and they never leak first. they break at the snout all 5 of them weird but hasnt done it in a while. i also changed the orange antifreeze in mine years ago and flushed it and i still find traces of that stuff. i swear that crap turns into sand or something gm could have used something better than that or researced it before hand.

[SleeperSS]

The bottom bolts go into the water jacket. I think the next time I do mine, I'm going to use studs on at least the bottom holes. It makes it much easier to locate the pump without moving the gaskets.