# Leaking new water pump



## mwawa1 (Sep 29, 2010)

I'm a real novice when when it comes to car stuff, but I've had my 99 Altima since it was new and I do a few things to it. This past weekend I changed the water pump. It seemed as if it held for a couple of days, but today I discovered a pretty bad leak from the water pump. I used the instructions I found on this website and can think of a few possible problems.

1) I used the RTV designed for water pumps and it said it needed 24 hours to fully cure. I didn't wait that long. I filled it after a few hours and drove it the next morning about 16 hours later.

2) I couldn't torque the bottom bolt to specification since my torque wrench wouldn't fit so I torqued it by feel.

3) On the head or the place where the water pump attaches, one of the rings that initially threads the longer bolts was broken off. Since this was for one of the longer bolts I assumed it wouldn't matter since the ring isn't really what was holding the bolt.

4) If I overtightened the belt could that put stress on the pump pulley that caused the leak? I'm not sure if I did that, but I do hear a funny sound (whirring that goes up in pitch as the RPMs go up) that makes me think I might have.

Since the job took me several hours each day of the weekend and since I obviously didn't do it right I'm debating whether to try again. Any thoughts about what could have gone wrong.


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## smj999smj (Jan 1, 2006)

Where is the coolant leaking from, for starters? From the gasket, shaft seal or weep hole? You may have just got a bad water pump. RTV is great and will cure sufficiently enough by the time you get it reassembled to install coolant and start the engine. The key to RTV is to use it on clean surfaces and not to mess up the bead of sealant during assembly of the pump to the engine. Overtightening the belt is not good and can wear out the bearings of the pump and anything else driven by that belt.


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## mwawa1 (Sep 29, 2010)

*not the pump*

The good news is that the pump wasn't leaking. The bad news is a coupe of hoses were. The one off the back of the engine block (under the manifold and above the oil filter) and my upper hose. I replaced the upper hose, but must still have a leak because I'm still losing fluid and overheating on longer trips. I guess I'll have to take it to the shop for a pressure test. I've replaced all the major components and the only hose that's left is the lower hose and those hoses/pipes off the back of the engine that I didn't know existed until the one sprung a leak.


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