Water pump oring surface corroded

blaze42069 · Oct 11, 2015

Hey guys I've search alot for this issue and can't find much. The wife's 02 excursion has a slow leak on top of water pump near the coolant temp sender. The previous owner kept filling up the res and told me the pump was leaking when i bought it. I figured let's throw a new pump in, simple and easy. I ordered the billet t housing, the diesel site thermostat, and flushed the whole system. Well when I pulled the pump the front cover was corroded and pitted only where the oring sat. So I cleaned surface as good as possible with a scotchbrite pad and put a light coating of rtv sealant on both sides of oring prior to install. Still leaking just enough to drip. Can I pull the oring and just use rtv in the oring groove? Or do I need to pull motor and replace the front cover? There's also a little moisture coming from the heater core so I think the previous owner just used gas engine anti freeze and maybe there a reaction between the mixed anti freeze causing corrosion internally. Maybe just time for a new core tho too. Anyone ever heard of this? Thanks

Arisley · Oct 11, 2015

Yep, without additive, you will get corrosion. There are test strips that you can buy to test the antifreeze for correct amount of additive. I would not replace the o-ring with RTV, I would use it in addition to. More than it appears that you did, just be careful not to use enough that it squishes in and gets inside the motor and gums up little passages. Give it some time to set up before adding coolant.

Keep an eye on your oil, make sure it is coolant free.

lincolnlocker · Oct 11, 2015

test it or do like me and have issues where every few months it decides to blow coolant all over hell... always adding new keeps it from pitting.. lol.. hell just flush it every 2 years and add new.. shouldnt ever havevto worry then.. lol

live life full throttle