Water pouring out from the water pump area?

1998 MAZDA 626

245,000 MILES • AUTOMATIC

FRAZIER88

MEMBER
51 POSTS
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Car was kicking codes for a misfire and bad O2 as well as faulty catalytic converter. So fixed the miss changed O2 both and changed the catalytic converter because it definitely was clogged. Discovered all this because it started to over heat. I'm assuming to much back pressure. Anyway since I did all this now that's it's all back together I have water pouring out from the water pump area. Which is behind the timing cover smh absolutely hate this design of motor it makes no sense to me why they would want to make things more complicated instead of simplifying then. So if you could save me a whole lot of time trouble and headache could you please throw me a breakdown of this process and add any tips or tricks you may have for making this smoother?

Jun 10, 2026 at 8:13 PM

STRAILER

CAR REPAIR CONTRIBUTOR
54,360 POSTS

Yep, it can be frustrating the way they design things but we have to live with it. You need to remove the timing cover to get started, you might as well replace the timing belt too. Start by disconnecting the battery and draining the coolant. It is important not to install the timing belt too tight or too loose. If it is to tight it will make a whining noise while running, and too loose will make the belt fail. Here are the timing marks and the water pump replacement instructions. Check out the images (below). Let me know how it goes

Images (Click to enlarge)

Jun 11, 2026 at 2:23 PM

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