Do I need to remove the water pump housing?

[Jeff J]

I think my water pump is leaking out of the weep hole. I was looking at a Haynes manual. It says that sometimes the housing will need to be removed. Is the seal that is causing the leak behind the housing, or is it the front portion? I noticed that there is an O ring on the backside of the housing.

Topic

[Greg]

We are going to need a little bit of information about what you are working on.
Year, make, model, and what engine would be a great place to start.

[Jeff J]

Sorry, I thought I added that info.

98 Nissan Altima GXE 2.4L 4 cyl]

[Andrew Harris]

I don’t know about your engine but sometimes the water pump housing is made onto the front timing cover. If that is the case with your vehicle then yes it could leak from that seal on the front timing cover. You could go rent a cooling system pressure tester to help you better locate where the leak actually is.

[cj1]

If leaking from the weep hole than it is an internal pump leak.
Weep hole is there to drain coolant away from the pump shaft bearing when shaft seal starts to weep. How much coolant are you losing in a month? If its a small amount and the bearing sounds good than weep hole doing its job.

May not be imperative that pump needs to be changed at this time.

[Jeff J]

The pump isn’t located in the timing cover. It is attached to the drive belt assembly.

I’ve only seen it leak a couple of times. It leaks about a 1/2 cup to 1 cup. I haven’t added any coolant to the system yet. I did notice some brown residue on the top of the ac compressor under the water pump. I do not hear any noises coming from the water pump bearing and the vehicle isn’t overheating.

[cj1]

“It leaks about a 1/2 cup to 1 cup.”
Is this is happening over several months or more and coming specifically from the weep hole?
If so just normal degradation of water pump seal on an old pump.

Is it the original 17 year old pump,hoses etc?

[Jeff J]

I’ve only seen it happen twice. I added some coolant to the reservoir a couple of weeks ago. I just topped it off.

I’ve replaced some of the hoses (upper and lower radiator hose). The pump and all hoses are original.

Should I be concerned? Should I go ahead and replace it or just monitor it?

Thanks

[Andrew Harris]

Probably is just going to get worse as time goes on until you have no choice but to replace it. If you monitor it you don’t have to do it immediately. Just make sure you don’t let the coolant get low.

[cj1]

If going to keep car and doing highway miles away from home, i would change pump/ hoses/ thermostat and serpentine belt if all are original.
Your call, more a level of comfort thing.

The worst case would be pump bearing suddenly seizing/throwing serpentine belt and you’ be looking for a tow.

[Jeff J]

I finally caught it leaking. There was a small puddle of coolant on the compressor underneath the water pump. I ended up changing the water pump out. Thanks for the help.

[Author]

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