One for the archives. Did my waterpump rebuild last night. As you might recall I developed a leak in the middle of my 5k tour a month or so back. Water/antifreeze was getting passed the mechanical seal and dripping out a small hole that is in the back of the waterpump housing where it plugs into the engine case. The hole cannot be seen until the water pump is removed. It initially appeared that the leak was from the cover or bottom bolt since the water was running down the back of the pump(can't be seen) and dripping off the bottom of the pump. I ordered all new seals and a new bearing which I received a couple days ago. Waterpump removal is a piece of cake. Just unhook the hoses and remove 6 bolts. Seal replacement was a bit more challenging. The manual tells you to simply tap out the bearing and mechanical seals. Yeah, right. I tapped, tapped some more, then pounded the hell out of the old bearing. Would not budge. Here's the 'hot' tip on bearing and mechanical seal removal. Use a heat gun to heat up the waterpump housing. That worked a treat. Bearing and mechanical seals tapped right out. I ordered the special tool for installing the mechanical seal. I suppose it's possible to use a socket instead, but the odds of finding a socket that exactly matches the outside diameter of the seal is probably pretty slim. Of course I didn't try since I had the tool. I'd be happy to loan it out if anyone needs it in the future. Anyway, I got it all reassembeled and back on the bike. Will finish hooking up hoses, etc. tonight. Doing a 500 mile ride tommorrow with expected temps in the mid 90's for the high desert portion of the ride. If you hear a loud scream echoing across So. Cal. mid-day, you'll know it leaked again ;-)
Rick _________________________________________________________________ Chat with friends online, try MSN Messenger: http://messenger.msn.com
