So I have broken the bolt on the very bottom of my water pump, right below the belt wheel. The bolt is in a really tricky spot to try to extract. This afternoon I tried removing the water pump housing only to realize it is bolted to the valve cover, making the job a lot more complicated than I anticipated. So basically my two options are, get a new water pump housing and take it to a shop and have them do it... Probably be a $500+ repair. Or get a water pump, and jb weld the broken bolt part together with the new water pump?

 

I'll go out tomorrow afternoon late and look at the old engine and see if I can give you any real advise. JBing the broken bolt doesn't thrill me, but it if it works it works.

Unless you were dealing with some unusual problem, corrosion, crossthread, etc, you shouldn't have broken a bolt. I'd have to go back and check but the torque on those little things has got to be measured in the inch-pounds. Like maybe 80 or 100 inch-pounds tops. Don't take that as gospel. Let me check it and see.

 

Dang I'm good...
It's 90 inch pounds.

It looks like JTIS is saying you have to remove the valve cover. OK now this job is getting unfestive. But other than that, once the water pump is out, all you need to do to remove the housing is to remove the inlet and outlet water pipes from the housing four other bolts on the housing itself, and then pull the housing out. Doesn't sound too bad to me. But it's dark out and I can't see to confirm that.

 

Yea, I was hoping I wasn't going to have to remove the valve cover. After I unbolted all the housing bolts, it still felt bolted in. It was looser but it was not letting me pull it off. Also the two bolts to the hose towards the back of the car were difficult to reach and one of the bolts hits the engine mount plate before unscrewing all the way out. The only way I could see removing this is if I had the housing loose and was able to move it a half inch or so to undo that hose. I'm still not sure what's holding the housing in place though. How does the pulley shaft attach itself? Would it just slide out?

 

Ok I was looking at the manual and removing the left hand valve cover does not look too difficult. Lot of bolts to undo but it looks like I could get it undone. So I guess my question is do I buy the housing and change it myself or have the shop take a look at it? I found a used housing water pump and housing on ebay for around $100.

 

Taking that valve cover off is pretty simple, you're so far into it now I'd press on. Once you get the housing out (or if you can get to the broken bolt where it is now without removing the housing even better) if you get a screw extractor set it will make very simple work of taking that broken bolt right out in about 2 minutes using a regular drill (spinning backwards)

 

I pretty much gave up and put it back together this morning. Taking the valve cover off didn't look too hard but getting those two hoses off was a big headache and extracting the bolt looked pretty bleak now that I fricked it up last week drilling at it like a madman at an angle while it was still in the engine. So now my options are buy a new housing or buy a used housing. I am talking to a Jaguar repair shop, but won't be open til Monday. Wondering if I should just order a used housing now or wait til they look at it. The new housing and pump is about $300 which is not too bad but add labor and it's not going to be cheap.

PS It is now leaking real steadily from the broken bolt area, meaning JB Welding that thing is not going to work. Need to get a new housing it looks like. Car is barely drivable at this point. I filled it up with JB weld and RTV sealant and am just letting it dry hoping it stops that leak. It was even dripping when it was off, so I don't know what to do, unless I keep adding coolant on a constant basis.

 

Ok, I decided to buy the used water pump & housing assembly on ebay for $100 and I think I am just going to try to install it myself like a boss. If I am skilled enough to get the old housing out, I should be able to put in the other one. Will need to rtv-seal the gaskets well and let them dry completely this time before firing it up. It's a big job but I figure if I can get out of this mess for $100, I'll be in a much better spot than having a shop install a new one. My credit card bill is through the roof already with the lowering springs. Once I get this dang pump installed I am going to leave the car alone for a while. Except it needs sway bar ends badly too, but maybe I can get those next when I get this sorted out.

 

OK I went out and looked at the old engine I have and yep I think it is pretty clear that you will need to remove the valve cover.
A couple of details to remember. 1. That electrical connector up near the timing chain, just disconnect the wire. The rest of it stays behind when you pull the valve cover. 2. Don't use RTV for a seal on Aluminum. There are better options. A lot of RTV releases acetic acid as it cures and it will eventually eat out and pit aluminum. Use something that says clearly that it is for gaskets and safe for Aluminum.

(I can tell you how much fun it is when a licensed A&P mechanic, who should know better, uses silicone seal on an aircraft engine and you lose oil pressure at 8000 feet above rocky ground. Sometimes they put airports in the stupidest places and sometimes you'll be thankful that they did.)

 

I use Permatext Ultra Black, it's the best stuff for just about anything. 20+ years using it and never a leak, and it doesn't damage aluminum, puts up with very high temps, and is pretty easy to remove. Works much better than everything else out there.

 

Ok thanks for the advice. I will keep that in mind. I used a black rtv this weekend when for the water pump gasket. Is the water pump housing itself aluminum? Is the block of the engine aluminum? Looking around trying to find something safe for aluminum. The Permatex Ultra Black would be ok to use? Thanks

ps yea the Ultra Black says it's "noncorrosive."

 

Yup, Ultra Black is great for any metal, plastics, and just about any other surface on your car. I've even sealed door gaskets, interior trim, window glass, and a bunch of other stuff with it.

 

Thanks. I bought some Pro Seal black RTV last week, do you think that would work also or should I get the Ultra Black as well? I contacted the company by email today to see if it was safe to use for aluminum but they haven't responded. PS the mechanic said "it may not be your water pump that's leaking." He hasn't looked at the car yet but I'm not sure what he means. It was dripping from the water pump. Now with the broken bolt it definitely is leaking. I'm worried what he could mean. I went ahead and bought that used pump assembly this weekend so I didn't take it by the shop today.

 

I was wondering how much trouble am I getting into removing the water pump housing? It basically bolts up to the engine, has a few hoses and thermostat attached to it, and it looks like the valve cover kind of holds it in place in addition to the bolts. I'm just wondering, is there anything unexpected? I am going to seal up the valve cover and thermostat and hoses well. I am hoping it is basically, unbolt it, remove old housing, put in new housing, seal it, wait to dry, bolt it, attach belt, fill up with coolant and problem solved. I guess I'm just worried it's the head gasket, but I have no reason to believe the head gasket is blown. Oil looks good. Coolant level has stayed steady today, power is good. One thing that I am concerned about is I am getting a used oem water pump with the housing and hoping that is usable still. If that pump is going bad I am going to have to shop for a new water pump, but that's like a $40 part instead of a $300 part if I bought the new housing. I'm just hoping everything works and there are no leaks. It's just my first time working with water pumps and stuff so it seems like it'll never hold water but I know as long as I do it right it will be ok.

 

Pro Seal is great but it gets onto everything and won't come off easily. Kind of like Permatex #2 in that regard. Ultra Black is fine. I've use it lots of times and there is a red one that is similar, but I can't recall it's name off hand. I bet I have some in the toolbox, though! The main thing to look for is "sensor safe" and if it is sensor safe it is probably OK around aluminum. Yes your whole head, block, valve cover, etc is aluminum. The water tubes, some are steel and some are plastic.

Do you have a copy of JTIS? You can download it from this forum. The trick comes in if you are using Win 7 it's not exactly straight forward to install. But Win XP it's easy to load and use.

 

Let's see if this uploads OK

OK that's part of it....

I added more...

 

Thanks. I do have a copy of the workshop manual someone sent me. I wasn't able to run JTIS on a mac. As for the housing, step 7 doesn't work because one of the hose bolts hits the engine mount bracket and won't come all the way undone. I am guessing if I remove the valve cover and unbolt everything else, I will have enough wiggle room to move the housing and get that last bolt off. The hoses are in there in kind of a crammed spot but I think I can get it. I heard back from Pro Seal and they just sent me the stupid data sheet, they made no mention of aluminum, so they kind of dodged the question. Valve covers and water pumps are listed on the back, but it doesn't specify aluminum. I guess I could buy the ultra black if I need to. Some one also said the ultra copper is good. There are so many gasket things out there it's hard to know the difference. I took it by the shop and they said it'd be about $200 to install the water pump housing. Hopefully it is something I can change myself. It looks like it basically bolts in there with the exception of needing to remove the valve cover to get it out. Doesn't look out of my ability, but not necessarily an easy project.

 

For the valve cover gasket, what should I do? I can't afford a new one, they are like $60. Should I reuse the old gasket with a sealant or just use a gasket maker like The Right Stuff? It seems a waste to have to buy a valve cover gasket just to remove the valve cover for 5 minutes.

It looks like most other people say you can reuse valve cover gaskets if they are in alright condition... So I will probably re use mine unless it is in bad condition.