I started my car today because i wanted to cruise the camaro to school today and show off to these little ***** ******, so i fired it up and then i heard an odd noise. Opened the hood and it was like a grinding whine sound, took it to be my pump considering the pump was transfered from the old engine, so the counts up over 200K. Im changing my pump, thermostat, and housing, any tips to make the job faster and or easier? I know its fairly simple but im always up for good shortcuts that work. ALSO i bought coolant/ thermostat RTV, should i use JUST that and not the gasket? i was told not to use both, because the RTV corrodes the gaskets is this true? I attended a presentation from Permatex's rep so im guessin its true but i'd always like to know

 

use the gaskets, and a lil gasket sealer, not silicone.....it clogs the water ways

 

eh i got fed up with it and used a bead of rtv on the housing and pump, then put the gasket on there, pushed it down a bit and scraped out the excess that went towards the holes. It should make a good seal, if not oh well i'll just have to re do it lol

 

When I did my thermostat (previous owner had removed it) I did rtv, then the generic paper like gasket, then more rtv. It ended up leaking sideways through the gasket between the two RTV layers which held no matter what I did. I took all that out, used just RTV, and haven't had a leak since.

 

my thermostat housing just has a o ring.....no rtv, no gasket......just a o ring.......doesnt leak a drop

 

All i did was remove the old parts, clean the surfaces so they were flat, and only rtv'd 1 side, because if i did two, i would have had the same problem you did with it pushing through both, i just didnt trust the RTV alone to fully seal to the block for the pum p and the intake for the housing, also did i mention i let my car sit for 13 hours after i put them on? plus i tightened them down snug at first, then after it sat and they cured, i torqued them on all the way, works well havent had a drop come out yet

 

I should mention that surface prep, cure time, and tightening twice are all important as master_disaster stated.

 

for peace of mind i usually use Permatex's "the right stuff", its just so muich easier than using the tubes because it comes out in one even bead instead of starting, hitting an air bubble and screwing it all up