Goblin blood on my garage floor

[rickshaw]

The Dealer replaced the Water Pump, Timing Belt, Manifold Gasket and Oring.

My VX is also leaking tranny fluid. Rickshaw, do you know if it was the "accumulator piston cover" that was leaking? I think that might be where my leak is coming from.

They said the tranny leak was the Shift Shaft Seal.

[nfpgasmask]

I'm glad you got this fixed, your engine bay is far too pretty to have water stains on the timing cover.

Bart

[VX4EJR]

The Dealer replaced the Water Pump, Timing Belt, Manifold Gasket and Oring.

Funny, I just had this same exact thing...same location of the coolant leak too. The only difference is the dealer's mechanic says the leak is only from the gasket to the manifold (the silver metal assembly just above where the leak and your arrow points) and they will not touch the water pump. Reason being, the water pump is below the leak puddle therefore they claim the water pump cannot be at fault as fluids don't usually travel up. Also the water pump is inside/behind the timing belt cover, thus more difficult to get to and they cannot justify that work under warranty. They tell me they will replace the gasket only (under the same warratnty) and if I experience engine overheat issues (which I don't have now) then they would investigate the water pump. Oh well...?

[nfpgasmask]

Mine was pooling in the same spot and it was DEFINITELY the water pump.

Bart

[tom4bren]

... they claim the water pump cannot be at fault as fluids don't usually travel up.

Kindly remind them that the fluid is under pressure and can in fact be forced upward.

Also the water pump is inside/behind the timing belt cover, thus more difficult to get to and they cannot justify that work under warranty.

There's the real story ... more work. It's not their perrogative to 'justify' work required to honor a warranty. Let 'em try their fix first but make sure that you are satisfied that the repair is complete before you sign the receipt.

[nfpgasmask]

X2 on that. Since changing the water pump I see no fluid on top of the timing covers. Furthermore, when I pulled off the timing covers, I could see the where the pump was leaking all over the place, and like Tom said, pressure pushes it up and out.

Bart

[VX4EJR]

Thanks for the info guys! and I agree!

However the dealer that's fixing things for me is only going to replace the water manifold gasket where they claim the leak is. Despite my efforts and words, they simply won't touch the water pump because they see no reason it is the cause of the coolant leak. But, if I in fact have a bad water pump...how can I know after their repair work?

If your water pump goes bad...aside from leaking coolant, would another sign be that your engine would overheat and your temp gauge would go up? ?

Also curious if any of you that had this work done (even by a dealer) saw it necessary or required anywhere that the radiator should be drained of all coolant before anything and then refilled when done?

[nfpgasmask]

Yeah, if your water pump fails, then you will not be circulating coolant through it's passages, and in turn, you would probably over heat pretty quickly.

Now, the water pump isn't something that I would think will fail too easily, as I am pretty sure it is belt driven, but it could bind up or something like that I suppose over time.

Basically, the train of thought is that if you go in that deep, you might as well change all that stuff while you are there for prosperity's sake. Not to mention, the VX manual call for changing this at 100k I think.

Bart

[WormGod]

Funny, mine started doing this about 2 weeks ago. Just a very light puddle in the driveway. I have it torn down in the garage right now to replace the intake manifold/-S/C plenum gaskets. No sign of leak or puddling. Nil a spot to find in the engine bay, nor a hint of the smell. Can't even find a drop point from underneath. Kinda baffling.

I am guessing, for now, that it's just overflow from my reservoir since my radiator is still topped off. We shall see.