First start after swap..Sealing water pump and bolts

[94turbocrewcab-lb]

So I’ve got the new water pump on and the replacement engine in and running! But I clearly forgot to add sealant to the 4 water pump bolts. I have a slow leak and im wondering do I need to drain the coolant down and then rtv the bolts? Or can I just put on some thread tape and leave the system full?

 

[IDIBRONCO]

Either way you go, be sure to drain the coolant first. It will leak out of the bolt holes with nothing in there to keep it in. There is a possibility that the coolant could run in between the front engine cover and the block and end up in your oil pan. I use RTV, but thread tape might work. Just in case you were asking, do seal the threads on these bolts, not the shoulders.

 

[94turbocrewcab-lb]

Hey thanks! I just was running it..for sure leaking, I found a small seep at the top drivers side on the pump.

Also I made a stupid mistake. I got the truck up to operating temp and I saw the radiator steaming along the top edge..(I had it flushed and tested..so I guess I’ll call the shop)

So for some reason I popped the cap on the radiator and got old faithful to blast off..not sure how it happened but it’s a mess..and I’m not sure how much cooling is left in the engine now..

Has a new thermostat (motor craft) and I didn’t have the fan on..I was just the a on the normal reading..new pump and fresh coolant.

Did I mess something up or just a messy accident?

Also I’ve noticed a clacking injector or something..drivers side 2nd from the front..when I crack it the noise goes away. But it’s a clacking/creaking/squeaking noise..

I also have an injector bubbling just a bit around the threads. They all look pretty new but I have no history.

 

[IDIBRONCO]

Did I mess something up or just a messy accident?

I'm guessing that this was right after replacing the water pump. The engine probably hadn't run long enough to open the thermostat. There was probably an air pocket inside the cooling system and opening the radiator cap released the pressure causing the air to expand and push coolant out of the top of the radiator. These engines are tough old birds and it's actually kind of hard to do much damage to them. They sure can be damaged, but not in this situation. There's no reason that replacing a water pump would cause a head gasket issue.

I also have an injector bubbling just a bit around the threads. They all look pretty new but I have no history.

If you mean the threads where it screws into the head, then the copper washer at the bottom of the injector isn't sealing for some reason. You can try to tighten the injector a little bit to see if the bubbling will stop, but be aware that this will most likely cause leaks in the return line system at the injectors. You should plan to replace all of the injector o-rings on that side at a minimum. This may be a good time to replace all of them along with the rubber return lines as well.

Also I made a stupid mistake. I got the truck up to operating temp and I saw the radiator steaming along the top edge..(I had it flushed and tested..so I guess I’ll call the shop)

Are you sure that it was the radiator or could this have been some coolant that got spilled and was sitting on top of the radiator seam on the top tank?

 

[hacked89]

You aren’t going to leak coolant out of the four permatex holes you are going to leak oil. If you didn’t know or forgot to permatex those holes, how well did you clean the front plate? Did you aviation permatex the front cover? And the water water pump? Both of those are required to do it correctly. Many people don’t even bother buying aviation permatex and black rtv it thinly but things to think about. A proper IDI thermostat starts opening at 192 and fully open at 212. Radiators don’t necessarily just steam on the top edge. And you went and opened a hot radiator. I think it will help you most to slow down and think about automotive basics and ask any specific questions to this engine and we can help.

 

[94turbocrewcab-lb]

Thanks for the input I’ll try to learn from the mistake.

-I used black gasket maker with paper gaskets where supplied. I thoroughly cleaned the mating surfaces and vacuum/cleaned surfaces with solvent before mating. I clearly messed up somewhere while installing the new pump and I’m getting a very slight leak when the truck was running without the fan on. Coolant temperature was on the high side of normal..I’ve not been rushing through this whole process, but yes..last night I was in a bit of rush as a huge storm was rolling in. For some reason..yes I opened a hot radiator...bad mistake on my end. I’ll never do it again.

As this point I’ve ordered a new water pump gasket and will drain all the coolant I can. I’ll clean the surfaces again and seal those bolt threads with rtv.

Perhaps I should get it going again tomorrow and let it come up to temp and monitor the radiator seams again before pulling the water pump?

 

[hacked89]

You should bleed the coolant system if you aren’t vacuum filling it. IE messy way is to leave the radiator cap off defrost on high and sit there and watch it while topping it off. Non messy way vacuum fill it if you have the capability.

 

[hacked89]

If you filled the coolant system and then capped it after this job you have air in the system and that’s likely why it’s running warmer. You’re leak is esperare of you running warmer. Luckily this engine is one of the easiest to do a water pump. I’m actually finishing one up as we speak.

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[IDIBRONCO]

As this point I’ve ordered a new water pump gasket and will drain all the coolant I can. I’ll clean the surfaces again and seal those bolt threads with rtv.

Since you're going to have the water pump back off, check the mating surfaces on the back side of the pump for defects. I had one leak on a 6.2 Chevy one time so I had to remove it and reinstall it again. It did have a small burr of some sort on the mating surface. What i did, and do every time I install a water pump now, was to take a flat file and run it gently across the mating surface. Any defects will show up as being a shiny color. Just for reference, it's A LOT more work to R&R a 6.2/6.5 water pump than it is on our engines.

Perhaps I should get it going again tomorrow and let it come up to temp and monitor the radiator seams again before pulling the water pump?

That wouldn't be a bad idea.

Non messy way vacuum fill it if you have the capability.

What we used to so was take an old radiator cap and cut the gasket so that any pressure would go into the overflow reservoir. A radiator cap has two rubber seals. One seals it to the top of the filler neck (to keep coolant from coming out the top), the other seals it to the bottom of the filler neck (to keep coolant inside the radiator until there's enough pressure to push it into the overflow). You want to cut or remove the lower one that seals to the bottom of the filler neck.

For some reason..yes I opened a hot radiator...

If you did this, meaning that the thermostat had opened up, there goes my air pocket theory.

.I was just the a on the normal reading

That reading really didn't mean anything. The factory gauges are even close to being accurate. How hot is "A"? We don't know. It varies from truck to truck. It can also vary on one truck. Sometimes, the gauge readings will be higher than other times. I didn't mount my mechanical temp gauge in a very easy to read spot so I use my factory gauge as a quick reference. I will remount gauges in the future. as hacked89 said earlier, if there is an air pocket inside your engine, it can/will read as a hot temperature on a gauge. This is because there is steam that is touching the sender. Steam will almost always be hotter than the coolant is.

You aren’t going to leak coolant out of the four permatex holes you are going to leak oil.

I had forgotten this one detail. Thanks for the reminder.

 

[94turbocrewcab-lb]

So I filled it up with 4 bottles of straight rotella elc and started adding my bottles of distilled..I was going to go for 4.9 coolant-rest water.

I left the cap off for a while and just let it idle..I then let it get nice and warm..I didn’t notice a significant drop in fluid level and thought I’ll drive up and down my dirt road. So I did and then took the cap off when returning..thinking maybe it’s dropped way down in level and I’m steaming the radiator..I panicked and pulled the cap.

So I’m not sure how much coolant is left now..is it ok to run the truck for a bit with out the 4 bolts belong sealed? Just enough to test the radiator at operating temp? I’m not going to be driving it around just don’t want to drain the coolant any more than I need to.


I can’t recall do I need the alternator bracket pulled off to pull the pump?

 

[hacked89]

Im not sure what you mean by you panicked and pulled the cap… again?

The four bolts, worst case you are going to leak oil. You aren’t going to hurt the engine just keep an eye on how much you are losing if any. The bolts go through to the case.

 

[hacked89]

You don’t need to drain the coolant to replace the four bolts either, just pull them one at a time and rtv them with the right stuff. Otherwise you are going to have a 24 hour full cure.

 

[hacked89]

For your knowledge and interest, here’s where the bolts lead to. Should help you visualize what I’m explaining.

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You must be registered for see images attach

 

[IDIBRONCO]

I left the cap off for a while and just let it idle..I then let it get nice and warm..I didn’t notice a significant drop in fluid level and thought I’ll drive up and down my dirt road. So I did and then took the cap off when returning..thinking maybe it’s dropped way down in level and I’m steaming the radiator..I panicked and pulled the cap.

Thanks for this. Now I'm starting to understand what all happened. This also helps to see how warm/hot your coolant was. This doesn't completely eliminate my idea of an air pocket in the cooling system, but it does make it much less likely. It still may have been some steam from spilled coolant that originally made you panic. There's no way to tell now, so you'll have to work with what you've got. Before you pull the water pump back off, try to see if you can find our exactly where your coolant leak is coming from. It may be as simple as a loose hose clamp or maybe you didn't get the heater hose fitting tight enough in the new water pump. I've done that one to myself before. Just in case, I think that you should seal those four bolts. If you do have to pull the pump back off, the worst that will happen is that you'll have to seal the threads on them again.

Im not sure what you mean by you panicked and pulled the cap… again?

I'm pretty sure that he only pulled the cap once. This was just explaining what happened for him to pull the car off while the coolant was warm/hot.

You don’t need to drain the coolant to replace the four bolts either, just pull them one at a time and rtv them with the right stuff. Otherwise you are going to have a 24 hour full cure.

True. If there is a coolant leak at the water pump, and he 's going to fix the leak, then he will need to drain the coolant.

 

[94turbocrewcab-lb]

I’ve got some clean up to do after a big storm last night but after that we’ll go fire it back up and take a look.

I’m pretty sure I’ve got a leak between the pump and front case..so if it’s for sure leaking I’ll pick up aviation gasket while in Napa getting the new gasket.

Have you guys ever heard an injector making a squeaking/knocking noise? It clearly stops when I crack open a certain injector but I’m not getting why it would sound like a loud squeaking?