Coolant Leaking out of Water Pump

[colyank]

If anyone can help me out with this problem that would be great. I have a 1972 c10 Chevy pickup with a 350 small block engine. Right now I am trying to install a power steering system and ran into an issue with one of the bolts on the water pump. With this bracket I have for the power steering pump, it is a slotted hole that can be adjusted in position to fit my desired position. Anyway I tried to install this bracket into the bottom hole on the driver side of the water pump, and when I removed this lower bolt coolant came rushing out. I am not that mechanically inclined when it comes to internals of engines, but I don’t understand why coolant would be poring out when I remove this bolt and how when this bolt is tight it is able to seal and prevent any leaks without any sealing application being put on the bolt and just relying on the threads to seal. It is just a little bit worrisome for me that coolant is able to escape from this bolt hole, as the top most bolt of the driver side of the water pump when removed nothing comes out of that. If anyone can help explain this I would appreciate it.

[68panelman]

It's just how the were designed. Unfortunately you will have to drain the coolant down so when you install bolt with sealant, it will have time to dry (I let em sit overnight) then top off coolant

[colyank]

Ok, do you know how much antifreeze is in the block and how much I could expect to come out? Just so I could maybe save it? Also any suggestions on what sealant I should put on that bolt? Thanks for the help.

[68panelman]

Just replace with fresh antifreeze, there will definitely be some contaminants that you don't want to put back in the engine. I always start with 2 gallons of prestone straight antifreeze and top off with distilled water. As far as sealant for the bolt, I use our RTV copper sealant.

[TALLone71]

there are quite a few bolt holes in production blocks, that are drilled all the way through, into the water jacket, head bolts for instance are the same, and have to have sealer applied to the threads, as previously mentioned. A engine block is a relatively tight space when you think about all that goes on inside of them, the size of the open bores, the need for the water jacket surrounding them, and in some areas the bolt holes, wind up protruding into the water jacket..modern engines I work on today, in quite a few cases still have the same deal, particularly on water pump, or front case bolts, at my work station, in the shop where I work, I always have a wire brush to clean the bolts, and a set of thread chasers to clean the bolt holes in the block if necessary, and on occasion I find bolts that are so corroded that I have to replace them with new ones

[BigBird05]

If you are going to drain down the coolant I wound clean and reseal all of the water pump bolts. Because you said that the top bolt didn't have any sealant it the other probably don't have any either. Have you noticed any coolant on the intake or your engine using any coolant? The intake bolts on a Chevy also need to be sealed.

[pjmoreland]

Originally Posted by BigBird05

If you are going to drain down the coolant I wound clean and reseal all of the water pump bolts. Because you said that the top bolt didn't have any sealant it the other probably don't have any either. Have you noticed any coolant on the intake or your engine using any coolant? The intake bolts on a Chevy also need to be sealed.

If I remember correctly, I believe the lower driver side bolt hole is the only one out of the four water pump bolts that goes through into the water jacket.