Water pump issues....

After 5000+ miles I started to notice a slight seapage around the outer water pump gasket and at some of the hose clamp connections so yesterday I figured I'd pull the pump and re-gasket everything, add a little silicone, re-install and go about my day.

Things did not go as easy as I thought they would. Turns out the studs holding everything to the block are too long to allow the pump to pull off before making contact with the back of the bulkhead. Anyone have any ideas. My next option is to loosen the motor mounts, jack up the motor, and finish the water pump. Problem is even if I do this I still may not have enough room and might have to cut away some of the sheetmetal around the lower opening. For obvious reasons I don't really want to do either.

Anybody else run into this problem. If so what did you do to service the water pump?

Motor is a 351W based Dart block.

Rich.

Rich,
Are the studs fastening the water pump or something else? I have a Roush with Dart 351W block too. My water pump was only fastened with bolts and I was able to remove it with the engine in place. If your water pump has studs can you back the studs out of the block or cut them off enough to get the pump out? Even if you have to destroy the water pump the cost of a new one is probably less hassle than removing the engine.
Dave Miller

SwiftDB4 said:

Rich,
Are the studs fastening the water pump or something else? I have a Roush with Dart 351W block too. My water pump was only fastened with bolts and I was able to remove it with the engine in place. If your water pump has studs can you back the studs out of the block or cut them off enough to get the pump out? Even if you have to destroy the water pump the cost of a new one is probably less hassle than removing the engine.
Dave Miller

Click to expand...

My thoughts exactly.