Fuel pump replacement, water leak

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71BronzeDemon

71BronzeDemon

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I am in the process of bringing my 71 demon back to life. It has been sitting for 12 years. I got it fired up but it wouldn't stay running.

I suspected a fuel flow issue so I am replacing the fuel pump and filters. After pulling off my mechanical fuel pump (I havn't put the new one on yet) the water pump started leaking, leaving a decent sized puddle on the shop floor. I did loosen the one water pump bolt holding the alternator tension bracket, while removing the fuel pump.

Just wondering if this is normal, or should I be looking to replace the water pump before I put everything back together.

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Is the pump leaking from gasket surface or piss hole on the under side? Gasket surface leak MIGHT seal up when you tighten up bolt you loosened up, OR just take pump off and replace gasket. Leaking out piss hole, replace pump.
 
Somewhat common for old assemblies. My neighbor replaced the water pump of his van and created a leak where timing cover meets block. Long *** bolts going through both. I suggested he remove the long bolts that go into water jackets, apply a good thread sealant, and cross fingers, but... A Barleak product stopped the leak.
 
Should seal back up when you tighten that bolt. Mine has resealed 8-10 times.
 
With anti-freeze that old, I'd be replacing it for 100% sure! That coolant has been sitting in there for a long time and slowly reacting with the metals, and the anti-corrosion additives were almost certainly all used up some years ago. I'd try to get the block drain plugs put and drain it from there so you can get some of the crud out that has settled into the bottom of cooling jacket in the block.

Grab the front of the pump/pulley and see if the pulley will wobble up and down any; that is a check on the pump bearing. If it wiggles more than just tiny bit, it may be on its way out.

Best of luck getting this thing going again!
 
Looks like a lot of silicone around the timing cover and pump gasket both. Sitting that long, I'd recommend getting a new pump and thermostat and doing a cooling system flush. I am a little weary of the chemical flushes with things that have been sitting for years, sometimes the core plugs don't like it to well. Don't be surprised if you find a problem in your heater core or radiator. I use a water hose to reverse flush heater core with temp control in high and hoses unhooked, radiator with top hose connection blocked and lower hose off through cap opening. Each side of block with pump removed through water passages in timing cover with screw in drain plugs out of the sides of the block. When flushing block, block the manifold coolant outlets, remove the thermostat, replace the housing and get a piece of scrap upper hose on it to help divert water away from yourself. I go back and forth on block side to side and from top until everything clears and then use shop vac to blow out the majority of the tap water. You'll be surprised at what is going to come out of there.
 
Last edited:
Garrett Ellison said:
You'll be surprised at what is going to come out of there.
Click to expand...
YUP.... LOL. Pulled the block plug out of a /6 that had seen 3k miles in about 30 years, and nothing came out..... the gunk in the bottom of the cooling jacket was about an inch deep..... Poked my pinkie in and wiggled it a bit and finally got some old coolant to come out. Flushed and flushed but did not get it all out. Had the block rust tanked at rebuild time, and the new coolant still turned rusty in < 1 k miles. It can take a lot of work to get them cleaned out.
 
I imagine your already ahead of me here, but an oil change after the first full warm up is probably going to be in order, too.
 
1) change engine and oil filter BEFORE you fire it up. Oil filters that have sat in old oil for a while can fall apart. Plus the oil is possibly garbage as well. No need to push bad stuff thru the system. Oil and filter is cheap... engines are not.
2) tighten all the water pump housing bolts / alternator bracket bolts BEFORE you replace coolant... had antifreeze leak from block to timing chain cover before internally and ended up with coolant in oil from loose bolts.
3) I’ve filled my coolant system with Cola-cola before. It’s a type of mild acid. Cleaned out a lot of rust and junk before I popped the freeze plugs. Made cleaning system a lot easier.
Cleaned the radiator inside too.
I only leave over night (8-10hrs)as the acid in the soda will eat thru the copper radiator core if it is thin.

Good luck.
 
Keep an eagle eye on engine oil. That bolt (and a couple others) in the timing cover can leak coolant into the crankcase as well as out on the exterior
 
If you do change the water pump, hang onto the old one and compare it vs the new one. "New" ones are not an exact match anymore.
 
do you guys use tap water and anti freeze to fill the system ? for the last 10 years I've been using distilled water and anti freeze can that do any harm ? so far on my Dart the 50 year old radiator is pretty clean inside and keeps the car cool never overheats
 
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