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Water leak front of engine

Bosscoe

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Hey guys,

Just need a little help. I have a water leak in the front of my engine on my 98 vt.
Right under that wheel in the middle. It's hard to see whats under there, but could anyone tell me if there is a hose or something that I can replace to stop the leak?

 

vr304

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That's the water pump underneath that wheel could be the gasket leaking but if it were my car I'd go buy a new water pump (new gasket should come with it) and be done
 

Bosscoe

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That's the water pump underneath that wheel could be the gasket leaking but if it were my car I'd go buy a new water pump (new gasket should come with it) and be done
oh sweet, is it a big job? cost much if a mechanic does it? Do I have to pull the whole engine out, etc...?
 

Immortality

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It's most likely the water pump seal failing and it's leaking from the small hole under the pump. If so, change water pump pronto.

It's not a big job but it can be a bit of a pain, best to ring around a few mechanics and get some quotes.

I would suggest a new thermostat at the same time if it hasn't already been changed recently.
 

Bosscoe

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It's most likely the water pump seal failing and it's leaking from the small hole under the pump. If so, change water pump pronto.

It's not a big job but it can be a bit of a pain, best to ring around a few mechanics and get some quotes.

I would suggest a new thermostat at the same time if it hasn't already been changed recently.

Oh sweet, yeah a mate of mine suggested changing the thermostat a week before I found this leak so i'll do that as well.

Thank you for the help fellas.

P.S

Am I taking out the radiator to change the water pump? or can I leave it in and just work around that small space?
 

accentstencil

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No need to remove the radiator.
 

Immortality

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Check the "how-to" section for a guide on changing water pumps, it's fairly straight forward really. All you need is a socket set, a scraper, screw driver, new waterpump and some sealant and maybe a couple of spare hours to complete the job (for a novice).

When I do a water pump I spend more time cleaning up the gasket faces than actually removing and re-fitting the new pump.
 

vr304

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I did the water pump on my ecotec as immortality said its a fairly basic job no need to remove radiator, just make sure when u refill the coolant (probably a good time to replace this as well) u bleed the cooling system to get rid of any airlocks there is a screw on top of the thermostat housing which u loosen off with the car running to bleed out any air then top up the coolant again
 

Samwow

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Hey buddy! Give this link a shot: How To Replace VN - VY Commodore V6 Waterpump

It's super easy job. I was a rank novice when I did my waterpump the first time. Took a while but now I can change them over in less than 30mins! Like others have said need to get that mating surface clean of gasket. You can use sandpaper for this after you have scraped away the excess old paper gasket with a razor or similar. You can use the paper gasket that will come with your new waterpump (I ordered a Gates waterpump off Ebay) and then I gave both surfaces a spray with HYLOMAR spray which you can pick up at Autobarn or S.C.A etc to ensure the seal is nice and watertight.

Good luck it's deffo something you can carry out yourself in an afteroon :)
 

MYVESSV8

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another hint if it isn't shown in the how to is to take a couple of pics at each step so when you start putting it back together you can check to be sure=especially with the belt on the font
 
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