Date:         Thu, 4 Aug 2005 18:52:49 -0400
Reply-To:     vanagon-rcampbell@USA.NET
Sender:       Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com>
From:         Robert Campbell <vanagon-rcampbell@USA.NET>
Subject:      Water Pump Failure -- some clues from my experience
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=ISO-8859-1

Just relating my experience for the benefit of archive searches, etc.

So, I noticed that when I stopped the van, shut down the motor, go around

back, I would see a dreaded sight:  water dripping from under the motor, in
the middle (so it's not A/C condensation).

When I look under there, that's odd, the drip is coming off of the oil cooler,
very strange.  A search of the archive tells me that the oil cool can fail,
but that's a rare event -- still, then I poke and prod, I swear the oil cooler
is leaking!

Time for some disassembly.....  What's this?  water is dripping out of a
little hole behind the pulley of the water pump!?  So, the water pump was

defective.  The bearing was shot, so it leaks out of the weep hole, falling
down onto, that's right, the oil cooler.  So, a few months early for a
radiator flush, but what the heck, you do flush your coolant every couple of
years, don't you? (please, I'm not trying to start a coolant thread here)


So, there we have it..... drips in the middle, coming off of your oil cooler:
water pump weep hole should be checked.  Luckily, I had a water pump in the
garage and am now drip free once again!

Happy Thursday everyone!

    -Robert
     1991 Carat - Zeke (for Ziegelstein)
     164K Miles, original engine
     Go Westy 15" tires & wheels, 10K NO problems! Handles oh so well!