hi guys..i changed oil and filter on my jag x type today.well over due.
shes on 170.000 kms.
or 115.000 miles.
i noticed a little pool of fluid under the car today. ..after a long inspection i found the water pump seems to have a leak. .i found red deposits under the bottom of the car...and sort of corrision..this is all new.wasnt here six months ago.
After a good poke around i see water pump and power steering pump are combined.
The power steering resevoir was pretty full..The coolant overflow tank was empty so im guessing its a leak with the water pump.
my question is. ..theres a mess around the whole pump unit..i can't tell for sure what's leaking. .both fluids are red also which is a pain..how do i narrow down which pump is leaking ..and or should i change both..They look expensive..id rather not replace good parts if i can...i have no reason to believe they have ever been changed ..is it possible its just a seal...all input appreciated there is a lot of knowledge here guys.

 

 

pictures taken from below

 

dalippy, from my experience, power steering pumps don't normally go bad. Mix in that your power steering reservoir is full but your coolant overflow bottle was empty, all things point to only a bad water pump.

This would be one of those times in my mind where you can do more harm changing out something that is still good (though used) than you are going to get from putting in a new unit and doing something silly, resulting in something negative happening.

If you need some pointers on getting a water pump on with no leaks, let me know.

 

thermo you speak the truth brother...like you said if its not broke don't fix it...i found some funny goupe on the bottom of the engine i think it was coolant mixed with oil i jumped the gun and thought it may be power steering fluid...but on 2nd thought i have a minor leak from the rear crank case seal... (which im not touching unless it gets bad its behind the flywheel. ..so oil and coolant mixed )
this isnt the first time you have offered me good advice.
im ringing local suppliers first thing in the morning. ..if i can't get it spurious ill ring ford and get a genuine one.
im open to all advice on getting a good seal on the pump thermo.
if its not raining ill be doing it myself. ..if its pissing down ill give it to a mechanic.
judging by the pictures and details how long do you think I have before that pump lets go altogether. ..

 

i did a 300 mile round trip a week ago if it makes any difference?

 

dalippy, if you are in the dripping stage still, then you have a while (say a few months tops) before things get really critical. I would base it more off of how often are you having to fill the overflow bottle. If it is draining the bottle in say a week, then you are about at the point that you really should change it. If you are needing to add daily, then you should be changing it ASAP.

As for getting a good seal on the first try, you will need 2 things. The first being what I call a "greenie". It is a scouring pad kinda like you would use on your dishes. It is a mildly abrasive pad, normally green in color (hence greenie), and you use that to remove any old gasket material from the engine block where the new gasket will sit. This will get all the gasket material off without putting any scratches into the metal sealing surface. The big thing is to make sure that the surface is a nice shiny silver color before you put on the new gasket.

The second thing I always use is a product called Form-a-Gasket (made by Permatex). What I do is I take the paper gasket that comes with the water pump and I put some of the Permatex on one side of the gasket (the side facing the water pump) and then apply the gasket to the water pump. I then apply another thin layer to the side of the gasket going to the engine block. This does 2 things for you. 1) keeps the gasket attached to the water pump so you don't have to battle keeping the gasket in place as you lower the water pump into place, and 2) if you do have any irregularities in the mating surface, the permatex will fill it in and ensure there are no holes.

The only other thing that I recommend is to make sure that all the bolts are evenly tightened. You don't need to put a torque wrench on them, but you want to make sure that you are applying the same amount of tightening to each bolt. This will help ensure the water pump is pressed evenly onto the block and not being twisted slightly (we are talking on the scale of 0.01mm), but it can be enough to cause the bearing to wear faster than it should. The same thing can be said about tightening lugnuts. If you have one that is really tight and another that is loose, this can cause the rotor to be pulled/pushed to the sides which will cause the rotor to warp easier as it heats up and cools off through use.

The Permatex will set in the time it takes you to tighten down the bolts and put the rest of the engine back together. So, no need to wait any longer than you have to.

 

Thanks thermo...im going to put all that advice to good use.
i got the pump.all the gaskets .a new belt and a load of new pink coolant this morning. ..80 euros all in.
but it had been pissing rain all day ill ethier have to wait until it stops or give it to a mechanic...
on short runs the water doesn't go down but i did 300 miles last week. ..thats when the coolant bottle emptied ..i usually do a round trip of 60 miles to work so thats when the pump will probably start leaking under hot pressure and cause problems. ..so ill have to get it done

 

i changed the pump today. ..wow what a pig of a job...so much stripping and made harder by the fact that the belt was wrong by 4 inches. .brought it back and got one from ford...their cheif mechanic said it was no harm using the instant gasket.like you said ..Unfortunately the power steering pump was weeping but very very little and the power steering resvoir still full so ill be damned if im changing it until its knackered.
Thanks for your advice. ..all back together again good

 

dalippy, good to hear you got that all done. It is a bummer to hear that on the diesel engine they made the water pump such a PITA to change. On the petrol engine, the water pump is probably one of the easiest that I have ever done. C'est la vie. The job is done and all is good.

Like the chief mechanic said, no harm in using it. I see it this way, for what the Permatex costs and its neutral effect on the engine, it is money well spent to be guaranteed a no leak job in the end. the paper gaskets tend to seal most of the time. For you, you want it to seal 100% of the time.