Hello all....
So last weekend at the boat and I notice a good size puddle of coolant under front of engine.... and upon closer inspection a small puddle on the engine right under the housing for my water pump (fresh not sea). Now when I think back to last winter I noticed not as much but I did find antifreeze in same place under engine and never paid too much concern because it was just a little. So looking at the housing and wiping it I see it is slowly leaking. As a side note.... ran engine hard all summer... unfortunately a couple times for several hours (no wind) and never had an issue with overheating or any leaking.... No bearing sound issues and belt is not too tight. So I put a ratchet on the two bolts at bottom of housing and they each turned a bit once I applied a bit of force.... nothing crazy. I didn't bother with other bolts as it was cold and getting dark and figured I'd take a better look this weekend. I cleaned up and put a fresh paper towel under to see if any leak. I feel maybe the housing loosened slightly over the years along with the cold weather and contracting metal.... it is the original water pump according to maintenance records. Should I get crazy and replace gasket before season or maybe give the rest of the bolts a slight turn to spec and lets see what happens with the tightening and eventual warmer weather. I usually get crazy but I am leaning towards the latter. Maybe just buy a replacement (pump / gaskets) just to have as it is an eventual spare which I wish to travel with....
Thanks
Greg
So last weekend at the boat and I notice a good size puddle of coolant under front of engine.... and upon closer inspection a small puddle on the engine right under the housing for my water pump (fresh not sea). Now when I think back to last winter I noticed not as much but I did find antifreeze in same place under engine and never paid too much concern because it was just a little. So looking at the housing and wiping it I see it is slowly leaking. As a side note.... ran engine hard all summer... unfortunately a couple times for several hours (no wind) and never had an issue with overheating or any leaking.... No bearing sound issues and belt is not too tight. So I put a ratchet on the two bolts at bottom of housing and they each turned a bit once I applied a bit of force.... nothing crazy. I didn't bother with other bolts as it was cold and getting dark and figured I'd take a better look this weekend. I cleaned up and put a fresh paper towel under to see if any leak. I feel maybe the housing loosened slightly over the years along with the cold weather and contracting metal.... it is the original water pump according to maintenance records. Should I get crazy and replace gasket before season or maybe give the rest of the bolts a slight turn to spec and lets see what happens with the tightening and eventual warmer weather. I usually get crazy but I am leaning towards the latter. Maybe just buy a replacement (pump / gaskets) just to have as it is an eventual spare which I wish to travel with....
Thanks
Greg