water pump 1996 LT1 caprice

[jw505]

can anyone please tell me why the weep hole on the water pump is still leaking. This car had been sitting along time & has only 25000 miles. When i started driving it first i noticed that the antifreeze is good for 5yrs are 100,000. I do know that the 5yrs was past due times 2. With this being a 12yr old car. This original water pump showed signs of leakage at the weep hole. I went to autozone got a new one,new antifreeze,new thermostat. I take it all apart flushed the system. put it all back together, then i noticed the seal was leaking oil from were the water pump is connected to thegear driven timing chain cover,also noticeing the new pump was leaking at the weep hole.SECOND trip to the autozone. got another new pump, also went to chev dealer and got new seal for the timing cover.take it all apart again changed oil seal. This time i found out that the water was to be torqued at 30 foot pounds. that fixed the oil leak,but that water pump started leaking again at the weep hole.THIRD trip to autozone.got my money back thinking that this socalled Durlast brand had a bad run on water pumps. FIRST trip to NAPA.Got new pump newthermostat new antifreeze. Everthing worked great for about 3 weeks. I notice this morning it is leaking antifreeze at the weep hole again.The heater in the car is working fine,also the bottom radiator hose gets warm. Iam thinking with that the system is got good circulation. any suggestions would be welcome.

[j cAT]

Originally Posted by jw505

can anyone please tell me why the weep hole on the water pump is still leaking. This car had been sitting along time & has only 25000 miles. When i started driving it first i noticed that the antifreeze is good for 5yrs are 100,000. I do know that the 5yrs was past due times 2. With this being a 12yr old car. This original water pump showed signs of leakage at the weep hole. I went to autozone got a new one,new antifreeze,new thermostat. I take it all apart flushed the system. put it all back together, then i noticed the seal was leaking oil from were the water pump is connected to thegear driven timing chain cover,also noticeing the new pump was leaking at the weep hole.SECOND trip to the autozone. got another new pump, also went to chev dealer and got new seal for the timing cover.take it all apart again changed oil seal. This time i found out that the water was to be torqued at 30 foot pounds. that fixed the oil leak,but that water pump started leaking again at the weep hole.THIRD trip to autozone.got my money back thinking that this socalled Durlast brand had a bad run on water pumps. FIRST trip to NAPA.Got new pump newthermostat new antifreeze. Everthing worked great for about 3 weeks. I notice this morning it is leaking antifreeze at the weep hole again.The heater in the car is working fine,also the bottom radiator hose gets warm. Iam thinking with that the system is got good circulation. any suggestions would be welcome.

I have had this occur it is a very bad situation because any antifreeze dripping into the opti is death to engine ... I have made a mod that is simply a T vacuum line connector the I stick into the weep hole then route hoses to drain any antifreeze from distributor. I have had 96 impala since 1995. so the problem of auto zone is not surprising as i returned my water pump puchased in 1999 for a full refund as the pumps they carry now are junk......i picked up a new water pump from VIP and this water pump looks very good quality. but when spring arrives i will install too cold now...it is possible that the coupling has too much play this is where the cam connects to the water pump. actually not the cam but the extension of the drive from block.. I hope you find this helpful . the idea of the drain was given to me in 1996 today not may are aware of this as this is fast becoming obsolete....VIP has lifetime warrantee on this part...

[curtis73]

By the way; the Dexcool coolant in your 96 isn't good for 5 days or 100 miles. Its pretty much caustic crap. Do a search for Dexcool on one of the Impala SS forums. Its been researched heavily.

[UncleBob]

don't know if the autozone waterpump is new or reman (is there a core? if there is, its a reman)....never use a reman waterpump. They are always crap

I can't imagine the drive causing a problem with coolant leaking out of the weep hole unless there is some reason its putting pressure on the bearing in the water pump, taking the carbon seal out quickly. Too thin waterpump gaskets possibly? No gaskets?

Just thinking out loud.

The drive will have some slop. You know when it has too much when the seal leaks oil and replacing the seal doesn't fix it. Otherwise, I wouldn't worry about the drive. Unless someone has been in there before and its protruding farther than it should.....taking out the waterpump as I mentioned above. Honestly, i haven't had one of those drives apart, so I don't know how feasible it is to mess it up in this manner.

[j cAT]

uncle bob you said it ! this i noticed when i got my water pump that the water pump gaskets were too thin and this you feel is putting pressure on the seal............but on the dexcool i can say that i have had 12yrs of trouble free coolant in two vehicles but i only use distilled water and texaco dexcool. never any other dexcool i don't care what they promise on there container..... thanks for that observation of the gasket thickness......