Fellow fiends:
In the last few weeks my '63 B has developed a coolant leak around the water
pump. That is: sitting in the garage for a week or so results in a puddle;
maybe a half a cup or so of coolant below the front of the engine. Careful
inspection (sic) suggests that the leak is not from hoses or radiator or
heater box but from the vicinity of the pump. I can't be sure if it is the
gasket or the pump itself at this point.
Now then... this pump is only a year old. Bear in mind that the pump for
the early early B's (18G engines) is about twice the expense of the pumps
for any other 1800 engine. The car runs fine and doesn't overheat. There
is no bearing noise from the water pump. I'm inclined to think that the
gasket has failed (yes/no?). Maybe the gasket was "deffective" from the
start? This engine was rebuilt a year ago and there was always some hard to
track down coolant leaking from somewhere up front. Perhaps it has just
gotten suddently worse? Why is it that a cooling system that will drip onto
the garage floor when cold doesn't spit it all out in a half hour when its
hot?
I suppose we should stick to the cheep repair first method and replace the
waterpump gasket? I did find that one of the pump bolts was have a turn
"loose" but the data is still out as to whether or not that cured the leak.
Oh well...
Have a good weekend,
Will Zehring
P.S. Maybe I should re-name the car "Leaky Fromm" get it??? huh? huh?
...sorry
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