new water pump bad?

[briandors]

i put a new water pump on my 95 3.1L Cutlass a couple weekends back. i thought the slow drop in coolant in the overflow was from air bleeding out, i don't drive the car often. but yesterday i climbed under to work on the starter and found the bottom of the ac compressor dripping wet with coolant.

 

i followed that nice write up that's popular here, exactly. used a torque wrench, in a star pattern. i used RTV sealant, a thin layer.

 

i noticed the GM service manual does NOT call for any sealant though!! has anyone here done a waterpump and only used the paper gasket, no sealant??? it didn't appear that the previous water pump had any sealant used with it.

 

it's either the sealant didn't allow the pump to seat completely. or the housing on the pump (a brand new Duralast, not reman'd) is slightly warped. car didn't leak at all with the original pump, it was just starting to make noise, so i don't think the block is warped. and i did a thorough job at cleaning the mating surfaces.

 

brian

[THe_DeTAiL3R]

When I replaced mine it was cause it was leaking- but it would only really leak when the engine was running, and would spit coolant up at you if you're standing in front of the car. I used a thin layer of blue RTV with the paper gasket and zero leakage.

[RenegadeZ]

If it makes a noise more than likely the belt tensioner is bad, a bad tensioner can cause water pump failure, that duralast gold is fine, I should know I sell em! I guess there could be a faulty water pump or 2 out there. I would always recommend using rtv, just using paper isnt dependable if u ask me.

[boechler14]

i replaced my water pump a couple of weeks ago cuz it was making alot of noise and never used and sealant and no leaks as of yet

[jdcutty]

I always have and always will use Blue RTV sealant on water pumps, regardless of what the manual suggest. I would just make sure that you got it seated in there well and all the bolts tightened. Also check all the hoses and clamps coming from the housing.