Water pump gasket

Tiny
LPEEK
  • MEMBER
  • 2003 TOYOTA TUNDRA
  • 75,000 MILES
I am replacing the water pump on my 2003 tundra with a 3.4L. The new pump came with a metal gasket. Do I use rtv or permatex on thois metal gasket and if so do I apply it to both sides?
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Tuesday, October 4th, 2011 AT 2:43 AM

7 Replies

Tiny
PROAUTOTECH
  • MECHANIC
  • 288 POSTS
No, I had one of my own. You don't need rtv if the mating surface is clean. If it made you feel better, you could use copper coat spray gasket coat, but I only do sometimes in that application. Depends on a few factors.
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Tuesday, October 4th, 2011 AT 2:49 AM
Tiny
KHLOW2008
  • MECHANIC
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The metal gasket has a self-adhesive coating that would self seal when heated up so it is not necessary to add any sealant, unless the block surface is not level or pitted.
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Tuesday, October 4th, 2011 AT 12:15 PM
Tiny
LPEEK
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I did the replacement with no rtv and I have a leak driver side where water pump meets block. The tork is correct and the block was clean any suggestions. I assume I am going to tear this down again, what do you suggest? New gasket withrtv, paper gasket with rtv, or something else?
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Tuesday, October 4th, 2011 AT 7:37 PM
Tiny
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That sucks. I don't like to use RTV. You can see it squeeze out when you tighten the bolt, the same thing happens on the inside and then falls off eventually and gets into important passageways. I guess it's not so bad in the coolant system, but I have seen terrible things on oil pump pickups. I would still prefer to not use it. You should have been fine without it. I just did one on the same truck with no rtv or paper and it's fine. Did you get the surfaces absolutly clean? Maybe dumb question, but you didn't miss a bolt did you? I guess there must be imperfections on the motor, so I would go with paper and no rtv. If you must use some sealant to make you feel better, I prefer using a motorcycle product called Yamabond, or Honda bond (same thing). It's what the factory uses between gasketless mating surfaces between metals. You could use it on the old metal gasket. You clean off the metal perfectly. Then apply a thin smear to both sides and let it dry for 30 minutes. It's semi hardening so it never actually dries like rtv. I use this stuff on cars and bikes all the time, there may be a similar product for cars but I have not found it yet. So you have a couple options, paper and no glue, or used gasket and yamabond. Or you can do rtv and the used gasket, which is probably what you would have done in the first place and not had a leak. I just don't like that stuff and use it only in emergencies when I am forced to temporarily reuse a broken or nasty gasket (on my own stuff). I still can't believe you have a leak. Double check there's no burrs on the new pump or any nicks in the engine from your gasket scraping. I hate doing the same job twice on the same car, I feel your pain.
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Tuesday, October 4th, 2011 AT 8:07 PM
Tiny
LPEEK
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I think I will try to retork the bolts and give it a couple days, the leak is small and I might get lucky. My main concern is the leak was between the pump and block before and not the water pump. It looked like it only had a small amount of rtv and no gaslket from the factory and there may be a small inperfection at the block. If so the yamabond should work. I will keep you posted. I am retired and have time and I should be able to do the job quicker next time if I don't forget.
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Tuesday, October 4th, 2011 AT 8:54 PM
Tiny
LPEEK
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Ok so I licked that calf over and it looks like I am having better luck. When I removed the water pump I noticed that it had not sealed at the thermostat housing at the last out side bolt. The metal gasket that is supplied has a raised bead of sealant which bonds to the block and pump when torked. For some reason I did not get good contact on that out side of the thermostat housing at the bloch. I checked the water pump and it was level, I could not get a good check of the block but there may be a little bit of a dip in that area. I was able to apply a thin coat of rtv around the outter edge to both sides and the raised bead of factory sealant should keep the rtv from getting into the engine. I did get a new gasket from toyota. So far no leak. It took 6 hours the second time. Thanks to all for the help, I love this web sight
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Sunday, October 9th, 2011 AT 8:28 PM
Tiny
KHLOW2008
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Glad to know you have fixed the problem.

Have a great day.
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Wednesday, October 12th, 2011 AT 4:29 PM

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