Coolant leak after valve cover gasket replacement??

88 5ohh · 04-12-2004

I changed over the horrible valve covers yesterday, and now today that i started it up, seems to be running fine (thank god), but i had a HUGE coolant leak when i stopped the car.
It was sitting on a slight decline, so the nose of the car was pointed down about 10*... and it didnt leak at first.. but then i noticed that it was coming out in a pretty consistant stream for about 5min, then it stopped again.
It seems to be coming out of the lower radiator hose, around the clip thing that holds it on...
Is this in any way related to the valve cover change?? I dont see how that is even possible, but hey... with my luck, it woudlnt surprise me.

Any thoughts??

Sniper · 04-12-2004

I'd say it's the water pump bearing. Check the seep hole underneath near the lower radiator hose. It's not because of the vavle cover change. Just a coincidence.

88 5ohh · 04-12-2004

Well, i was hoping it was just a coincidence..
but geez, talk about a weird one...

So how much do these water pump bearing set people back if that is actually the case??

And what am i looking for in the 'seep hole'??

GhostDog 5.0 · 04-12-2004

You are looking for it and watching it when the car is on. Coolant will seep out and let you know the pump is on the way out.

STINGREY · 04-12-2004

dude the bearing is in the water pump.you would be replacing the water pump as a whole.also i know you said it was leaking from the front but the throttle body is water cooled with two hoses on either end, make sure the connections are tight.