Why would my water pump be leaking again....

[godzilla]

When i just had a brand new one installed with the major service not even 2500 klm ago?
It is and has been losing coolant for the last week or two. There is dried up coolant on top of the sump pan under where the water pump is. I can smell it when i drive and overnight after the car is parked in the car hold it drops a "puddle" the size of a 50c piece around that area. This is crap, it was doing the same thing before the major servive and that is what prompted me to change it. I bought the pump from Ralliart NZ and was told it was a "genuine mitsubishi aftermarket" what ever that means.
So could it be as simple as the bolts nut done up properly or will it be leaking from the shaft or something un-fixable like that?

 

[VR4Rocket]

Oh man your screwed!! Anything genuine mitsubishi.......nah kidding.
Take it back to whoever did it and tell them it is happening

 

[SiliconAngel]

Trev its probably just a bad job with liquid gasket... Or they didn't use the right stuff. If you had a leak past the seal for AGES then you may have a slight depression worn in the side of the block, which would require a small weld and machining flat or it will keep happening

Unless of course they didn't actually replace it

 

[godzilla]

Take it back to whoever did it and tell them it is happening

That is the plan hopefully this week but they have already told me if the pump is rooooted then they wont warranty it as they never supplied it.

Trev, when it came from NZ it came with a gasket but i am unsure if they used it. They definitley replaced the pump as they gave me the old one back.
I am just hoping a bit of liquid gasket is going to do the trick as there is no way i can afford another 8 hours labour

 

[smohekey]

You're looking at a few hours labour in any case as the water pump is the hardest part to get at of all the timing belt/water pump replacement parts. The timing belt has to be taken off and one of the engine mounts to get at it fully.

 

[godzilla]

Yeah i know, i am hoping it can be sealed back up without have to be removed. As i said, i had the major service done only 2500 klm's ago.

 

[SiliconAngel]

Yea sorry to say it Trev, but if they have to look at the pump then they've done 95% of any labour they'd need for that job. The worst bit is the lower half of the RHS engine mount which blocks one of the bolts in the water pump, its a huge PITA to get apart (that one bolt more than doubles the time the job takes). Fingers crossed it was an install issue and not the part 'cause they can't charge you for that... But then, unless you're there as they take it off and see the cause yourself, you've only got their word for it...

 

[VR-04-TT]

They probably didn't clean the surface enough when they put the sealant/gasket on. Hang around for them to take it off so you can see for yourself.

 

[godzilla]

Well i find out tomorrow what the mechanic thinks the problem may be. I just cannot hang around while they do it(am busy with work), i have to drop it off to them and let him look at it. He has said he will put it on the hoist and see if he can see where it is leaking from be it the pump or coming from somhere else on that side of the engine.....

 

[godzilla]

Just got off the phone to the mechanic and he has failed to be able to inspect the water pump enough and therefor is unable to determine if it is leaking. it has not lost any coolant today or yesterday so it seems to be somewhat intermittant. I am going to monitor the drips over the next few weeks and then work out what i am going to do.
But on another note he has advised me that my drivers side cv boot is split right through........just great!

 

[SiliconAngel]

Bad luck Trev, has that only just happened? Why didn't they pick it up before?

I had a car years ago that was consistently losing coolant. I had it into the mechanic (yes, I used to let other people work on my cars when I was young and inexperienced) five or six times for the same problem and they kept saying they couldn't find it. Eventually I said "I don't want it back until you've worked out where the problem is". I got a call a week later - turned out there was a hairline crack in the block that coolant only came through at high revs when the engine was at full operating temp. Because it was coming out dead straight and very fine they thought they were looking at a wire until one of them went to tug on it

The moral? If YOU know there's a problem you're better off spending the time to figure the cause out yourself and just get the mechanic to do what he's good at - undoing bolts. If you let him think for himself you're giving him unnecessary opportunities to make mistakes.