hey guys!

im new to all this so please be understanding

I have a 1995 Blazer 4x4 121,000 miles and i have had alot of problems with the water pump. I have replaced the thing about 6 times now. all i do is take the blazer 5 min to school and back, and by the time i get home the water pump bolts have come loose and ive lost every ounce of anti freeze. This happens almost everyother day now and im ready to call it quits. I have gotton 3 new water pumps thinking it was the water pump, replaced the gasgets each time. the last time i even made liquid gasgets and made rubber ones then put lock tight on the bolts to make sure they didnt back out, let it sit over ngiht and 7 hours after filling it up agian its all on my garage floor. I am really in a bind right now and exhausted of ideas.

what should i do now?!?!?

Thanks

 

hmmm. interesting situation. are you torquing them down properly? maybe get longer bolts and use lock washers.

 

just an update: each time i would torque the bolts, i would use the torque meter wrench and would make sure they are up to about 43. I also found out that the bolts are long enough cause come of them are bottoming out on the block. I also bought a new radiator cap thinking too much pressure is built up but agian it blew the gasgets.

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You put up pics of the mess! Can you show us where this leak is orignating from? Is it leaking from the top of the pump? Did you flush it recently?

I'm wondering if there is some sort of blockage to cause these leaks.


Get a coolant pressure test gauge. It can be rented at A-zone.

 

Are the bolts that are bottoming out in the threaded hole? It might be that no matter how torqued you get them the are too long to seat the water pump properly. (Get some shorter bolts)!!! Is the water pump correct for the engine. Some GM V-6's require a reverse rotation pump, eg like my 2000 4.3L V-6....

Just a couple of things to think of.....

 

I dont know why I should mention this, but I will. Is the pump going in the CORRECT direction for your application? Seems to me NO-ONE could possibly give you the wrong one, right?

Is the leak really on the gasket SURFACE, rather than a cracked something or other, under it?


Is everything dry when you work on it? The whole gasket area needs to be dry, clean and even. I always make sure I have real gasket for job. Not just using the old "blue goo". I feel like you also did this. Yes, I confess, never used a torque wrench on a watepump in my life. Not even into aluminum. I am a bad boy!!!!

I do one thing others may never do. I almost always buy new bolts for anything over about 10 years old or that has given me any problem at all. This leads me to a simple test. I turn the bolts (old) into the threads without the parts they will hold. 1. Check all the threads, in all the locations. 2. Check the real length. I do one more thing. I always use lock washers, and new ones. I even add them on tranny pans. Most will tell you this is even WRONG. Dont matter to me, it works, and has always worked for me.

Actually my favorite thing is to have a stud installed and then use a nut with lock washer. Any high performance work I do will go this way. If I have an engine on a stand, it will go this way. This is one way to NEVER worry about a bottomed bolt being tight. This always allows TWO methods for removal. You may not wish to do this and in some locations it presents a real problem, but it solves many more.

Back to actual installation sequence. Clean, thin layer of gasket material on both sides of gasket. Notice the THIN part?? Tighten evenly just short of proper torque and finish by going from one bolt to another in a circular motion at least THREE times. Aluminum in particular. The repetion will find the bolts that are actually still a 1/4 turn looser than the next. This is an oddity found when working with aluminum all the time. AGAIN, this is what I do, most will tell you I am completely wrong. If you or them wish to live with loose bolts and studs, fine.

The really odd part is that I have not yet stripped an aluminum thread. Have had to fix dozens from other folks' work, but not mine.

I do confess to having a torque sensitive set of arms, most do not. Discoverred this at age 16, when I took a ride about 500 miles from home and had to remove the head on my car (6) to get an air cleaner bolt out (single barrel). Having no torque wrench I proceeded to do the best I could, drove home and rechecked, all were correct. Little bolt didnt break anything either. Having worked with my dad from about 11 years of age in both auto and truck situations had already set my instincts. Most never get to this point.

 

UPDATE!!!

thanks guys for all your help. I was able to track down the problem. it was the fan clutch was bad and the fan would vibrate enough to get the water pump to back out. I have driven it for a few days and no problems with the water pump backing out BUT i got a new problem now. LOL. now it over heats all the time, almost liek the water pump isnt working. SO i fixed one problem in exchange for another.

Im a senior in highschool and the budget is running low. Please let me know what this over heating problem might be now.

 

What did you do to fix the water pump problem? Did you replace the bad fan clutch?

 

yeah, i replaced the bad fan clutch. i could tell it was bad because when you would touch the fan and try and move it forward and back it would give quite a bit. i put on the new one and its as solid as a rock.

 

You need a thin layer of gasket material on both sides of the water pump gasket, and you need it all the way around the bolt holes. The bolts thread into the water jacket, and if they are loose, they will leak. They should not bottom out, if so you have the wrong bolt(s). If you must use anything to hold them in place, use loctite.

All serpintine belt engines run in the same direction, the pump rotation changed when GM went from v-belts to serp belts. And the S10-Blazer 4.3L never had v-belts. If you had a v-belt pump, it would not clear the timing chain cover. That was the other thing that had to be modified for the reveerse rotation water pumps.

Be extremely carefull you don't get gasket material inside the water pump bolt holes, or in water passage holes. Again, a thin layer of gasket maker is all you need. In your case, start over. Before you remove the water pump, flush the block with a garden hose in the pump and then in the thermostat opening (remove thermostat). Let it run for a few minutes in each direction. Might as well flush the radiator while your at it, agian put the gardne hose in both hoses and let it run for a few minutes in each.

Make sure the gasket surfaces are clean, use a scrapper and/or gasket remover in a spary can. Look for it in the autoparts store. Its called (oddly enough) "Gasket Remover". Follow the directions. Wouldn't hurt to replace the water pump bolts, also wouldn't hurt to run the old bolt or a tap in the bolt holes to clean them out.

And your 100% positive your fan is tight and spinning in the right direction?????

Good luck and post up how it goes.