Water Pump Leak

[Michael Oritt]

I almost hesitate to post about another problem but here goes:

Yesterday while almost done with a long ride to make sure that the brakes were okay (they were) I got a spatter of oily drops on the windshield and when I popped the bonnet i found a pretty liberal spray of oil across its underside, just above the fan. This morning after cleaning everything off I put the car up on jack stands and ran the engine at about 2K to see if I could find the source.

There is a slow but steady leak--perhaps a drop every three or four seconds--coming off of the back face of the water pump pulley, which leaks onto the fan belt and gets tossed across the engine compartment. The strange thing is that it does not seem like engine oil as it is brown in color and has a definite bittersweet taste--nothing at all like the color or taste of the engine oil. It is sticky and looks almost like Permatex Indian Head Gasket Shellac.

There is a grease nipple on the water pump and though I know I lubed it when I last changed the water pump that was some time ago. I am not certain about the color of the grease but am thinking it was either red or blue.

There is no oil in the water nor any water in the oil.
The leak is not coming out of the weep hole in the water pump.
The leak does not seem like oil that is emulsified--it really seems like shellac but that makes no sense to me.

Any thoughts will be appreciated.

 

[steveg]

Maybe the water pump is deteriorating and coolant/grease mix is seeping out. Do you detect any roughness or play when turning the fan by hand?

Edit: on re-reading, it sounds like a coolant leak out the shaft of the water pump. Is your coolant brown?

 

[John Turney]

A mix of coolant and grease? Supposedly, regular antifreeze is sweet and poisonous (to pets).

 

[Keoke]

I suggest replcing water pump with one SANs grease fitting on the side:glee:

 

[Michael Oritt]

I have experienced leaks of coolant from pups in the past but never oil or a mixture of grease and oil.

I wonder if anyone has developed any new or rebuilt pump alternatives as the ones we get from the usual suppliers appear to be less than great. In the past Bill Bolton rebuilt cores with, as I recall, a supposedly-better carbon ring.

 

[Bob_Spidell]

I don't think you have a choice but to pull the pump (but you knew that). The good news is swapping pumps on Big Healeys is a (relatively) easy job; the bad news is getting a good new one is almost out of the question. AFAIK, most aftermarket pumps are being supplied by County, and I won't go into my problems with them--they're documented in a couple threads here--but suffice it to say 'good luck.' Michael Salter on the email list does proper rebuilds, but I got one from him that blew its rubber 'bellows'-type seal (no fault of Michael's, and he made good on his work). I don't know if Michael does rebuilds for 100s, but if I were you I'd contact him directly to see what he recommends. I have one of his rebuilds in my BJ8, and he sourced a rebuilt OEM-bodied one for me from a supplier in Canada that he new that I carry as a spare, and if all else fails I have a new County (that would be my last resort). The semi-good news is I think the 100 pumps were more engineered to be rebuilt than the later pumps; sourcing quality parts will likely be an issue.

 

[Michael Oritt]

I didn't mention it earlier but my present pump came from the usual sources less than two years ago.
Perhaps we need to regard the standard water pump as a maintenance item.

I wonder if anyone has successfully installed an electric water pump in a Healey?

 

[tahoe healey]

I've had a Country pump on my BJ8 for over 5 years with no problem (I was told that they need to be spun for a few minutes before installation). However I did get and rebuilt the old pump with a kit from Mike Salter. With his video it is not hard and I carry it as a spare.

 

[CraigC]

Michael, your description pretty much matches what will be seen when you mix enough coolant with the grease in the cavity between the pump bearings that it can be pushed out through the front bearing. Back when you installed your pump, I remember dis-assembling my spare pump. Every internal part and the front face of the front bearing were completely covered in a similar brown substance. I'm afraid the seal in the pump has failed. Remove the fan and pulley and you will have your answer.

As for the electric water pump, I have often thought of that myself in conjunction with an electric fan which could be centered on the radiator core unlike our mechanical fans that are probably 3 inches above center.

If you check out the water pump offerings at Ahead4Healeys, they have an inexpensive version(probably County) and one listed as being "as original". If I were in need of a pump for my 100, that's the one I'd be looking at. It has threads to allow installation of the heater tap(not a pressed in tube like the cheaper unit) and the hardware at the front of shaft matches original design. Double the price, but still pretty reasonable.

 

[CraigC]

A mix of coolant and grease? Supposedly, regular antifreeze is sweet and poisonous (to pets).

Not to mention us 2-legged creatures, although we (probably)aren't as likely to be lapping it up off the ground.

 

[steveg]

I've had a Country pump on my BJ8 for over 5 years with no problem (I was told that they need to be spun for a few minutes before installation). However I did get and rebuilt the old pump with a kit from Mike Salter. With his video it is not hard and I carry it as a spare.

Mike Salter states in his blog* that 100 pump rebuilds are not available because he can't find a source for the parts.

*in the comments below this blog posting.
http://www.netbug.net/blogmichael/2012/06/30/austin-healey-bj8-water-pump-rebuild/

 

[Keoke]

I've had a Country pump on my BJ8 for over 5 years with no problem (I was told that they need to be spun for a few minutes before installation). However I did get and rebuilt the old pump with a kit from Mike Salter. With his video it is not hard and I carry it as a spare.

OH!

You are so lucky. I don't let a County box in my shop unless it is empty .

 

[Bob_Spidell]

Mike Salter states in his blog (somewhere, IIRC) that 100 pump rebuilds are not available because he can't find a source for the parts.

I've seen adverts for shops that rebuild water pumps for old cars in magazines like 'Old Cars Weekly' and Hemmings; dunno if they do imports.

 

[steveg]

In the early oughts I replaced my water pump with one from Moss, which has worked fine ever since. I guess it must be one of the old 'good' County pumps from when the original Old Man County was running the shop. I also have an OEM pump, rebuilt with a Salter kit, if it ever poops out.

 

[Michael Oritt]

This morning while ordering a replacement pump from Moss I found that I bought the the present one in 2015.

 

[steveg]

I didn't mention it earlier but my present pump came from the usual sources less than two years ago.
Perhaps we need to regard the standard water pump as a maintenance item.

I wonder if anyone has successfully installed an electric water pump in a Healey?

Ed Neumeyer has been running one for probably 10 years in his monster 4-liter DMD-engined car.

It should be easy to do as they insert into the lower hose. However you'd need a fitting to replace the water pump on the block.

 

[CaptRandy]

Have you determined what the oily mix actually came from? Was it rusty in color? Brown covers many shades. Wonder if there is rust accumulated in the block that somehow broke loose and now is running through the block.

 

[Jake]

If yours is newly sourced, it'll have the bellows style seal. You may be able to replace it fairly easily if you can press off the impeller.
I engineered a solution for mine, but it's an OE pump with a separate carbon ring. The seal in that one is NLA, so I had to come up with my own solution.

https://www.ahexp.com/forum/the-100-forum.4/water-pump-rubber-seal.212062.212096/

 

[kozelding]

I have nothing to add other than empathy!

I have longed forever for a single care-free summer of driving.... But it never works out that way.

 

[Bob_Spidell]

... I have longed forever for a single care-free summer of driving.... But it never works out that way.

No such thing as 'care-free' with any piece of machinery. My new Mustang GT can't handle the heat; if it sits outside for a few hours in 100degF+ heat all the fancy electronic nannies--cross-traffic, side traffic, backup alerts, etc.--take a powder. They come back after a few miles of driving when, presumably, the electronics cool off (dealer couldn't reproduce, natch).

Before you rail on Ford, Consumer Reports' fave Toyota just got slammed with fines for selling faulty diesel emissions equipment. So, yeah, 'they all do it.'