New water pump leaky :( copper spray ok?

[scheides]

First off, special thanks to Kracka and TKRPerformance for helping me do the tbelt job on my car last weekend. It took a long time, but it was a great learning experience! Everything runs like absolute clockwork, but I have one small but ultimately awful issue: the water pump leaks out the back of the block. It does not leak in teh timing area (all belts are dry) and does not leak at the return pipe (normally across the front of the motor on a dsm, it's on teh back on an evo). Its like its leaking out the side of the gasket!

Anyways, I used copper spray on both sides of the gasket, but not the bolts (thought that'd be silly), so I'm not sure if i scraped the gasket going in (it is a damn tight fit!) or if its leaking past the bolts or if copper on the gasket was the wrong thing to use?

Any advice would be appreciated, I am not looking forward to ripping the car all apart again, but you live and you learn.

[scheides]

PS - yes I re-torqued those bolts holding it on near where its leaking.

[Febo]

Should of used regular rtv copper selant, not spray, it works alot better for applications like that. And Im assuming its a new gasket you used, but how long did you let the spray copper sit before putting the gasket on? It might have dried up too much then just gave way under preassure.

[EclipseGST]

Copper spray on a gasket is better then the RTV shit. People tend to put to much on and it clogs shit up in the motor.

Check the back of the copper spray can and see what it says for wet applications, how long its suppose to set up first before using. When I use it, I always let the car sit for 12-24hrs after using it. Same with RTV.

Did you make sure to get all of the old gasket off? Like 100% positive there was no old gasket left on the block?

[Halon]

I used copper spray on mine when I installed a new one awhile back, and it worked fine for me. That's about all I have offer though, sorry Scheides...

[A//// Guy]

That sucks Scheides. Ive always used that sealant that never really dries, its a reddish gooey can of stuff with a brush.

[JET]

Copper spray should not cause any problems. Did you get all of the old gasket scraped off good?

[Febo]

Originally Posted by EclipseGST

Copper spray on a gasket is better then the RTV shit. People tend to put to much on and it clogs shit up in the motor.

You just gotta be a pro. I swear by the stuff. But just like all gasket stuff you do have to let it fully cure before exposing it to fluids, like others said.

[b00stcreep21]

Usually you only need to use a light coat of copper spray if you use any at all. Honestly though, if you used a new gasket, there shouldn't be any reason to use copper spray anyways... Just make sure both gasket surfaces are squeeky clean, and you'll be good to go.

[Matt D.]

Gotta make sure you didn't pinch the gasket as well, regardless of how awesome your torque wrench is. Sometimes you're just better off with a snug and extra partial turn than reading what a wrench is telling you.

[Kracka]

He didn't use a tq wrench of the water pump.

[niterydr]

Extra gasket (old) is there or the gasket got pinched on install, copper spray wouldn't cause the leak. I like using it as a tac coat ,helps hold the gasket for me.

[scheides]

Wow thanks for all the replies and advice guys! I did get all of the old gasket off, there was only one small piece about 1" long that got left on the motor when I pulled the old pump out and it came off all in one piece. I did not use a torque wrench, just snugged them all down nice and snug and then gave a little extra twist. After I figured out where it was leaking from, I gave an extra little twist to the two outside most bolts...they were near where it is leaking from and the only two bolts I could even get to w/ the lower timing cover still on.

I think I'm just going to take it apart and put in a new gasket. It sucks complete balls, but I dunno what else to do. I must have tweaked the gasket in there, or scraped it a bit as I was sticking the pump/gasket back in the car....it's a really tight fit in there as you all know! I had to twist the pump around here and there to get it in, so I'm thinking I must have just tweaked or scraped the gasket getting it in there, and then possibly tweaked it as it got tightened down.

[FattyBoomBatty]

Why did you need a new water pump? Also, why did you even use copper spray? A water pump gasket should be fine with no other sealant.

[scheides]

Preventative maintenance, and so it wouldn't leak. Self ownage.

[FattyBoomBatty]

You should prevent your gt35r from failing.

[scheides]

The 35r that I have on the car right now will NEVER fail because....it does not exist! It will also never leak or burn oil.

[scheides]

Well well well.....despite being a computer geek I can turn a wrench when I want to. I had doggie training with Jill tonight but before I left I had an hour into tearing the car apart again. Spent another 2.5 hours after I got back and ended up taking the tbelt half off and tensioners....got another little crank on all of the water pump bolts! They must have needed a little extra love after the car had warmed up for the first time.

I had txt'd Kracka and told him to stop by so he could put more break-in miles on his new clutch, and he helped me put everything back together again and fire her up! He stayed for almost two hours despite having to be up early for work, that is a good friend for ya! After he left I finished up and made a few laps around my neighborhood and got back with zero drops on the floor that I could see, even jacked the car up and looked very very closely.

I'll drive the car to work tomorrow and see what happens, guess she just needed a little more cowbell!

Also figured out that my tensioner was twisted the wrong way...which is what gave me the motivation to just take it all apart again! I had it spun up like a 6-bolt...but I have a 7-bolt evo motor in my car, so it needs to spin down, counter clockwise! whew!

I hope this is the end of this for a while, I suck at doing this...I ended up doing the tensioner like 4 times to get it right, and then was off a tooth on the crank sprocket, so did it another 2 times...I just plain suck at doing car work, but in the end I get it done!

[C3L1CA]

Good job on getting it done and leak free! Always feels good to fix a leak and have everything work the second time around.

[JET]

Good luck with the drive tomorrow! If that was all that was wrong, then that isn't too big of a deal.