Water pump

ROBERT KIRSCHNER

MEMBER
2002 CHEVROLET SILVERADO
V8
4WD
AUTOMATIC
130,000 MILES

I have recently noticed coolant leaking. Upon inspection, it appears to be leaking from the pass. Side seal of the water pump, on the outside bottom. My questions, are.

a) is this just the seal that has failed and need to be replaced, or should I replace the entire water pump?

b) how do you get the fan nut off? Which way do I turn it to break it loose?

c)if I do replace the water pump, and belts and thermastst while it is all tore down, how big and difficult of a job is this going to be?

d) which type of anti freeze do I use? Do I have to put dex tron 2 back in or can I use any that states good for all models and colors?

e) which anti freeze do you prefer and recomend?

any and all ifo would be appriciated.
Thank you and God Bless

1 Reply

JACOBANDNICKOLAS

MECHANIC
108,300 POSTS

Okay:
There is a weep hole under the water pump. If the seal or bearing in the pump is bad, it will leak from there. If you are removing the pump anyway, I would replace it. As far as the thermostat, that is an easy job, and the belts will already be off.

Personally, I recommend using a GO-5 universal coolant. That way, you can add other types to it if needed. The original DEXCOOL (not dextron. Dextron is trans fluid, please don't use that lol), was not one of GM's best ideas. Corrosion was a problem when using it. Plus, if you don't flush the block, some still could be in the engine block and cause issues if you use a different type of coolant (other than universal). I do recommend flushing the engine block and heater core while you have the thermostat out and water pump off. Just get a engine flush product as well as radiator flush and do both.

If you have other questions, let me know.

Good luck,
Joe