Leaky water pump

[Billy Smalls]

Hi There

Whilst looking round the engine bay, noticed that in the last 2 months I’ve lost about 2 inches of coolant from the expansion tank. I checked all the various hoses and they aren’t leaking BUT did notice a slight leak from the water pump.

To remove, clean, service and replace seems quite straight-forward. However, the Haynes manual makes no mention of the metal rigid pipes that carry the heater coolant. They seem to be attached to a bracket that is bolted to the block.

So, drain and remove rad, slacken pulley, 4 bolts off the pump, move down and out, remove fan, clean and replace seals and carry out reverse????

2 questions – any tips and can I buy just the seals / gasket? If the pump is serviceable??

Thanks alot

[Volvo Guy]

Hi Billy, Just put one on my B18 and it was pretty simple.

Drain the rad and remove it.
Take the fan off and pully behind it.
I undid the top left bolt on the pump first that also held the small metal heater hose in place. Give it a tug and it should pull out.
Then I took the other 3 bolts out and the bolt holding the metal pipe to the block.
It should then all come off.
You can pull the metal pipe out now but it might need a bit of tapping.

I was going to just replace seals but when I saw the pump insides I thought a new unit at £30 was worth it. It comes with all the seals and gasket too.

The 2 wide seals go on top of the pump and dont forget the seals on the metal pipes.

New gasket on and it should go back together OK.

Good Luck!

[john h]

I agree. Unless you know that your pump is fairly recent, it makes sense to fit a new one as preventative maintenance.

[Billy Smalls]

Originally Posted by Volvo Guy

Hi Billy, Just put one on my B18 and it was pretty simple.

Drain the rad and remove it.
Take the fan off and pully behind it.
I undid the top left bolt on the pump first that also held the small metal heater hose in place. Give it a tug and it should pull out.
Then I took the other 3 bolts out and the bolt holding the metal pipe to the block.
It should then all come off.
You can pull the metal pipe out now but it might need a bit of tapping.

I was going to just replace seals but when I saw the pump insides I thought a new unit at £30 was worth it. It comes with all the seals and gasket too.

The 2 wide seals go on top of the pump and dont forget the seals on the metal pipes.

New gasket on and it should go back together OK.

Good Luck!

Thanks for that, that's great. I just ordered a pump , I notice it comes with 4 ring seals. Am I right that 2 are for the 'flow and return' on the top of the pump and the smaller 2 are for the sides where the heater pipes fit in?

Is it fiddley getting the larger seals to sit right on the block?

Cheers

[Volvo Guy]

Yeah the 2 wide ones go on top of the pump and sit against the head and the other 2 go on the pipes which push into the pump housing.

I put the gasket onthe back of the pump with some sealent, put the pump in position and put a screwdriver in one of the lower 2 bolt holes to lift the pump up so the holes aligned with the ones on the block.

[Derek UK]

You can also get the pump on with the bolts just snug and then push the pump up against the head using a short length of 4 x 2 and a jack. Make sure it pushes up square then tighten the bolts fully. Make sure the head surface is clean so that the seal is good. The seal ring sometimes distorts/collapses so don't go crazy when you use the jack.

[Billy Smalls]

Thanks chaps – is the idea of the screwdriver / jack and timber, to help with the sheer weight and awkward angle of the pump with the fan too?

And a sealant to keep the gasket in place – Hylomar??

This is great advice thanks again – Haynes isn’t so hot on detail I’m finding….

[nonhog]

Just picked up a leaky water pump 164. Trying to get my head around this.
Probably be easier once I pull the pump?
I do get with the car a FSM. Does need to be towed as it leaks too much to risk driving.
Love to see some pics.

[Derek UK]

As you may have already realised the B30 pump is different to the B18/20 one. I don't think the different bolt pattern makes much difference when fitted but am happy to be corrected on that.

[nonhog]

Got it home last night. Late enough I did not look anything over.