I come out to my car today at work and there is a stream of coolant running down the parking lot that started right underneath my car. So, I'm guessing that my water pump is going bad. Would that be a good assumption?

What all is involved in fixing this? Is it something the backyard (read: novice) mechanic can take care of himself?

Thanks,
Chris

 

Sure, you can do it. The Haynes 82-92 Camaro (or Firebird) manual tells it all. The hardest part is scraping all the old gasket material off the sealing surfaces. Remember to use a sealant on the bolt threads (I use Permatex's blue RTV silicone) and gasket sealer (I use Permatex's "High-Tack" in a casn) on the gaskets.

Make sure your radiator hoses are fine and not split (or loose). Also, look to see where the coolant's coming from. There are "weep holes" on the water pump case- look between the water pump and water pump pulley. If coolant's dripping from those, that means your pump's front seal is shot.


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-Tom P (Hot rodded 1986 Firebird 2.8l) from http://www.f-body.net/mailbag/3rd/3rd_mailbag.html message boards
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