Hey everyone-

I had the water pump crap out on me and I replaced it during the week. The leaking from the pump is gone, however, I now have a slow leak that I cannot pin point. While replacing my water pump, I replaced the heater bypass hose since I had to really hack it to get it off the old pump. On the new pump though, I just screwed in the barb for the bypass and haven't used any threadlock or anything. It appears to be forming from right below that connection so could that be the reason? If so, what should I use on it?

I've included a photo from the plenum gasket replacement how to that shows where the pools of coolant are and where it leaks. I plan on getting a new tstat and gasket for that today and replacing that aswell while I'm in here. I'd really rather not have to pull all this stuff again, haha!

So, my question:could it be a bad water pump gasket (was a new gasket with silicone sealant on one side) or the barb with no threadlock?

[IMG]local://upfiles/30089/7B4462D967304903BDD0D4BED6C09B2E.jpg[/IMG]

 

did you thoroughly scrape off the old gasket from ALL surfaces? If not it could be leaking.

 

I did but may not have been as through as I should have been. I am going to pull the pump out again and scrap it all off tomorrow...

I will post back with the results!

 

My friend recently replaced the water pump on his 4.0L Cherokee, and he used a gasket as well as RTV sealant. Initially, I thought it was weird, but, he has 0 leaks, plus, upon thinking about it later, its a pretty good idea. Some extra protection never hurt (Well, depends on what!).
So, I would suggest using a new gasket, make sure all the old sealant/gasket material is off, and use some RTV. Just make sure you use the right RTV, and that you apply it correctly. Don't want any getting in the coolant system.
Speaking of leaks, I've got my own, coming from one of the temp sending units. I need to look into that tonight [:@]

 

Thanks a lot for the help guys! It's leak free!

Had some trouble finding a new gasket yesterday but I finally did and installed the water pump last night. I also put some RTV black silicone on the threaded heater bypass barb to seal that up aswell. Finished the "curing" stage around 7 tonight and filled it with coolant and went for a test drive. Came back with no drips. Good to go!

 

I have a similiar issue. THere was a problem with the thermostat housings not being machined well enough. THey do not fully seat agains the engine housings. Not sure how you fix that, I just live w/ the leak! I ussually have to top off my fluid twice a year.