Water pump question

[Offcenter]

My '77 was leaking through the weep hole so I bought
a new genuine Honda pump for it.
When I pulled the old pump, it seemed every bit as
tight and solid as the new one. Fairly stiff to turn the
shaft and absolutely no play in the bearings.
Have any of you ever seen one of these pumps leak
while the bearings were still good?
Should I be looking elsewhere for the cause of
the leak? All passages look clean inside and everything
looks like I believe it should look.

 

[Steve83]

The ceramic seal can leak with good bearings, or the big o-ring on the pump body could be leaking. The 2 smaller ones are oil seals.

 

[toytender01]

+++ opcorn: opcorn:

 

[Placerville]

Two of the three things that can leak on a pump have been mentioned. The third is the crush washers under the bolts that hold the pump in place. So, you have a dilemma on your hands, don't you? If there's no 'side to side' play in that pump shaft, that means the large O ring and crush washers are more suspect. But, as stated above, the shaft could be leaking even though it currently has no play. (I'm not being much help, am I?)

Here's something that might make you feel better..... Is the impeller on your pump Bakelite? If so, it's the original factory pump and (bad or not) it needs to be changed because they all tend to fail about this time anyway. So, don't worry about it. Replace your pump, gaskets and all of those O rings. While your at it, take your radiator to a shop and have them clean it, re-solder the outlets and pressure test it. You'll be glad you did. Replace your thermostat as well. If you haven't picked up a complete pump gasket set as yet, this is a good one. It has everything you need for your '77 (there will be one or two O rings left over on a 1000) and it has a proven track record. Tip: Don't forget the tiny O ring that goes over the post in the upper right corner. Miss that one and you'll have oil in your coolant.

 

[Offcenter]

Thanks for the info. I have that gasket set. Nice to know I got the right one. Thanks.
The old pump has a metal impeller just like the new one....which means someone
has changed that pump at least once already. I'm beginning to think that my
"68,000 mile" bike is really a "168,000 mile" bike. I can't imagine that the
pump would have needed replacing twice already.

 

[joedrum]

its been a lot of yrs ...that's as bad as mileage in some cases

 

[ramwing7]

My GL1100 has 138,000 miles on it and is on it's 3rd water pump which I installed 4800 miles ago. I was crawling around on my garage floor and what did I notice, but a drop of coolant hanging from the weep hole. I'm kinda grumpy that the pump conked out after 4800 miles. Granted it could be something else leaking, but I'd think if I got any of those many o-rings in wrong that it would have leaked immediately. I did install and OEM pump last time.
Anybody have any ideas, suggestions, etc.? Replacing the water pump on this machine is such a pain in the tush, I don't want to be doing it again in 4800 miles.
Your suggestions and help will be most welcome.
Thanks.
:roll:

 

[Dusterdude]

That sucks

Sent from my LG-D850 using Tapatalk

 

[bronko37]

Just silly cone that danged hole shut.... :smilie_happy:

Sorry. Its most likely one of the many seals in there and not necessarily the pump itself. On the crappy side, you still have to pull it all apart. On the bright side, gasket set is cheaper than another new pump. If its a drip here and there, though irritating, you can leave it for awhile. When it pukes on the floor tho its time to get after it.

 

[ramwing7]

You could very well be right about the zillion little rubber o-rings. It does drip far and between but seems faster when it's hot. Evidenced by the drops of coolant on the side of the engine after riding a while. I'm thinking that since rubber contracts when hot it might make the leak worse. The drops I see several days later at the weep hole could be residuals of the ride.
I've already ordered the pump and gaskets since they seem a bit difficult to find. That won't get any easier. and i can always re-sell them.
In the meantime I think I'll wait for it to get worse before I bite the bullet and tear into it. :swoon:

Make sense?

 

[dan filipi]

Mine will loose a few drops after a ride then stop when it cools down. Doesn't drip any when sitting cool. Been doing this for several years. I just keep an eye on it doesn't get worse.

 

[AApple]

Do you ride this thing often, or does it sit for extended periods?

If there is no coolant getting into the engine oil then your coolant "leak" has to be the large o-ring behind the pump body, or the ceramic seal on the front side, behind the impeller. A leak at the smaller seal on the very rear of the pump would normally also allow engine oil to leak from the weep hole, but it would NOT create a coolant leak from there....the pump itself also has a weep hole in it, so a leak from the ceramic seal would dump coolant directly out the weep hole in the housing, never getting back to the rear o-ring.
I wouldn't condemn the pump itself at that mileage, unless you don't use enough anti-freeze, or it is mixed with too much plain water. Anti-freeze contains lubricants for the ceramic seal on the pump impeller, and running straight water, or a mix that is too water diluted can cause the ceramic seal to not seal properly. Running a pump with NO coolant at all, even for a short time can also damage the ceramic seal. Sometimes, just doing a coolant change/flush will get the ceramic seal back in shape, and sealing again. Like others, I would also wait until it got worse to tear into it to find the actual leak point. I'd bet it is the larger o-ring that is seeping....btdt. :blush: