Coolant Leak: December 2014
- Kurt Reynolds
- Aug 13, 2020
- 2 min read
Updated: Sep 15, 2020
On my 2000 Chevy Impala with a 3.4L V6 engine, I noticed coolant coming from the underneath side of the water pump or so it seemed. So, I bought a new water pump with any additional necessities and got busy on one of my days off from work.
Water Pump Replacement
Replacing the water pump on a 3.4L is fairly straightforward.
Disconnect the battery.
Clamp coolant hoses: radiator and heater hoses.
Remove the serpentine belt.
Remove the water pump pulley.
Remove the water pump.
Clean all surfaces and use RTV Silicone Sealer on both sides of water pump gasket.
Reassemble everything in the reverse order.
Using a torque wrench on water pump bolts will prevent damaging the aluminum timing cover assembly from over tightening.
Replenish coolant with new mixture (50/50 antifreeze/water or whatever mix you prefer within specifications on coolant bottle).
After installing the new water pump, there was still a coolant leak coming from underneath it. Upon closer inspection, I traced the leak up the backside of the timing cover to a point near the top of it. Therefore, the leak was actually coming from the timing cover assembly and NOT the water pump. Foiled by a coolant leak.
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Timing Cover
Resealing the timing cover is quite a bit more of a job to handle over replacing the water pump. In addition to removing the parts listed above when removing the water pump, the alternator, harmonic balancer, and power steering pump must be removed. I won't list the steps to do this job; one should consult a service manual if one is uncertain on how to proceed. Also if I'm not mistaken, I believe this particular timing cover has a torque sequence (found in service manual). Overall, resealing the timing cover and reassembling the rest of the engine components fixed the leak and got the Impala back out on the road.
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