Leaking water pump?

Mooky · Jan 19, 2023

Apologies if this has been covered.
My ongoing mission to stop coolant disappearing has now turned to the water pump after replacing the fuel cooler.
I've noticed rust coloured coolant on top up the water pump.
Does this suggest it's failing & are they quite straight forward to replace?
Thankyou

lynall · Jan 19, 2023

Engine type?

Mooky · Jan 19, 2023

Mooky said:
Apologies if this has been covered.
My ongoing mission to stop coolant disappearing has now turned to the water pump after replacing the fuel cooler.
I've noticed rust coloured coolant on top up the water pump.
Does this suggest it's failing & are they quite straight forward to replace?
Thankyou.
1998 110 td5
100k on the clock

lynall · Jan 19, 2023

Ah well I would do some searching, maybe even get it pressure tested hot and cold.
Red coolant is okay, rust coloured is not okay, what colour is the coolant in the header tank?

Are the rad hoses very hard after it has been on a run?

cliffbase · Jan 20, 2023

They are a bit fiddley to do, just done mine. If the coolant you speak of is above the water pump on the cast "webbing" its more likely to be a top hose leak. the water pump mounts from the rear, in front of the centrifugal oil spinner and is beneath the cast webbed area.

Mine was pressurising, i decided to remove the head & I think i could see where the gasket had blown. Whilst apart i did the water pump, thermostat, egr delete & exhaust manifold mod. All seems well now.

Mooky · Jan 20, 2023

lynall said:
Engine type?

98' TD5 110
100k on the clock.

Mooky · Jan 20, 2023

cliffbase said:
They are a bit fiddley to do, just done mine. If the coolant you speak of is above the water pump on the cast "webbing" its more likely to be a top hose leak. the water pump mounts from the rear, in front of the centrifugal oil spinner and is beneath the cast webbed area.

Mine was pressurising, i decided to remove the head & I think i could see where the gasket had blown. Whilst apart i did the water pump, thermostat, egr delete & exhaust manifold mod. All seems well now.

Mooky · Jan 20, 2023

Thanks Cliffbase. Rust coloured pooling on top of the casting. There is a hole in the middle of the casting that someone in the know said it may be coming up through there?
Coolant in tank is clear.

lynall · Jan 20, 2023

Mooky said:
Thanks Cliffbase. Rust coloured pooling on top of the casting. There is a hole in the middle of the casting that someone in the know said it may be coming up through there?
Coolant in tank is clear.

If the hoses are hard when its hot then the head gasket may be on its way out, the leak is the weak point caused by the pressure trying to find a way to escape.

cliffbase · Jan 20, 2023

If you are loosing coolant it could be the head gasket. forgive me if you know but there are various way a gasket can fail. As Lynall said one is for the compression gasses to escape the cylinder & get into the water system causing pressurisation (like mine had), The coolant could get into the cylinder but not escape into the water or oil galleries, this often causes some light coloured smoke when running. The other ways are for oil to get into the water & visa versa. If coolant is getting into the oil, the oil often emulsifies and looks "creamy" , you can sometimes see this on the underside of the oil filler cap. If the oil is getting into the water then you will see it in the expansion tank.

If coolant loss is your issue and you have eradicated all obvious leaks then i would be keeping an eye out for almost steam coming from the exhaust.
Sadly the TD5 engine is a little prone to head gasket/head issues so may be on its way...

I bought my TD5 recently knowing it had a issue, where mine was pressurising it had caused numerous leaks as the pressure was simply too much for the hose clips etc, the underlying issue wasn't coolant external leaks but the gasket failure.

Sorry if you know all that, good luck with getting it sorted.

Mooky · Jan 24, 2023

cliffbase said:
If you are loosing coolant it could be the head gasket. forgive me if you know but there are various way a gasket can fail. As Lynall said one is for the compression gasses to escape the cylinder & get into the water system causing pressurisation (like mine had), The coolant could get into the cylinder but not escape into the water or oil galleries, this often causes some light coloured smoke when running. The other ways are for oil to get into the water & visa versa. If coolant is getting into the oil, the oil often emulsifies and looks "creamy" , you can sometimes see this on the underside of the oil filler cap. If the oil is getting into the water then you will see it in the expansion tank.

If coolant loss is your issue and you have eradicated all obvious leaks then i would be keeping an eye out for almost steam coming from the exhaust.
Sadly the TD5 engine is a little prone to head gasket/head issues so may be on its way...

I bought my TD5 recently knowing it had a issue, where mine was pressurising it had caused numerous leaks as the pressure was simply too much for the hose clips etc, the underlying issue wasn't coolant external leaks but the gasket failure.

Sorry if you know all that, good luck with getting it sorted.

Thats really good straight forward knowledge thank you.
Over the last year Ive had the radiator, inter cooler, expansion tank/cap and recently the fuel cooler replaced - second hand one as the gasket trick didn't work. The engine has been pressure tested with inconclusive results!
Oil is good and dark and no steam. After a couple of days not running I still get small pressure release when undoing the expansion cap. The coolant level is erratic! Sometimes its low so Ive topped it up only to find after running and releasing cap slowly the level rises over the maximum.

cliffbase · Jan 30, 2023

Welcome.
The system staying pressurised after a couple of days is a little odd. Releasing the cap post running will usually result in the level being over maxiumum (just expansion of the coolant) Normally when cool again the level reduces back down.
If you are regularly adding coolant and can't see a leak, it has to be going somewhere. Sorry to say it has all the hall marks of a head gasket.
Gas testing (usual head gaster test performed by garages) is often inconclusive of the TD5 engine im afraid.

Have you noticed your coolant hoses being very hard when the engine has been warm? This can be a common symptom.

Leaking water pump?

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