Leak from below water pump on 330GT

kiwi330: Try this question on Tom Yang's site, http://www.tomyang.net/cars/ferrari.html there are more than enough 209 experienced guys on it to help you through this! Michael Bayer

 

The drain hole on the waterpump casting is not supposed to be blocked. If the waterpump seal starts to leak, then coolant will come out of this hole.

If you block this hole, then the coolant will be forced through the oil seal and waterpump bearing and into the crankcase, not good. Slight weepage and coolant residue at the drain hole is normal, a constant leak is not.

Most likely, you will need a new seal and either resurface of the seal ride, or a new seal ride. Be aware that most new seals have the incorrect size spring (too light) and you will either have to switch the spring from your old seal to the new seal, or preload the new seal with a spacer shim.

Brian Brown
Patrick Ottis Co.

 

Oooooooo! I hear the beginnings of a full blown restoration ...




;P

 

To avoid a full restoration, remove the following words from your vocabulary:
While we are in there...............

I might as well............

 

Brian has it nailed, I think. The same leak happened to mine when it was rebuilt with a Ferrari supplied kit. It needed the same fix he recommended. Charlie told me he spoke with the Ferrari people, who told him the parts were "aftermarket" whatever that means. I drove it home (350 miles) and since another hundred or so miles - no trace of a leak.

Cheers
Warren

 

The weep often gets plugged with corrosion/crytalized residue from a seal that has been leaking for a long time, or by the use of too much silicone sealer that has been used to install a seal. This will cause any coolant leakage to go into the sump and mix with the engine oil, making a nice chocolate milkshake.
This is often misdiagnosed as a leaking head gasket. Here are some images of a sump plate and inside of the sump on a car that has had this problem. Note that the coolant has been leaking for so long that it has crytalized even while under the oil.

Brian
Image Unavailable, Please Login
Image Unavailable, Please Login

 

The typical seal failures are the carbon face cracking or delaminating from the rubber, or the rubber tearing.
Below are images of a new seal that leaked because the spring was too light, note the wire diameter of the spring.
The other seals have the good spring with the large diameter wire, but the seal on the right has failed due to the carbon seal face delaminating from the rubber.

Brian
Image Unavailable, Please Login
Image Unavailable, Please Login

 

Here are a couple of photos of the waterpump plate. You can see that the weep hole goes through the casting to the back side of the waterpump seal land surface. This allows any leakage past the seal to vent outside the engine. It also allows any oil leakage past the waterpump oil seal to vent as well.

Brian
Image Unavailable, Please Login
Image Unavailable, Please Login

 

Thanks for posting those pictures Brian.

 

The first strage is always "denial"



I'll wait and see ...

 

Guys,

You're scaring Rob. Lets make sure we get him really hooked first, otherwise he might panic and sell. Drink the Coolaid Rob .

Regards,

Art S.

 

How much was the car used before you got it?. I wonder if maybe it will settle down with proper use?

I'd top up (and ensure drain hole is 100% clear) and drive her for a few weekends ... if it doesn't settle down then I'd rip the water pump off.

Luckily you live in New Zealand ... there are hundreds of laterial thinkers and great engineers over there, infact arguably the best restoration firm in the world in Christchurch (many Pebble beach winners ... I believe, in Auto Restorations).

This is not a major issue ... nothing that kiwi spirit can't fix.
Pete

 

Brain,
What causes the carbon to split. I just installed a new seal on my 250 engine and it leaked shortly after I ran it. I removed the seal and it had a split on each opposing side of the carbon. I am using the heavy spring version.This is very frustrating . Are the parts poor quality? I called the vendor who sold me the seal and he said I must have cracked it when installing it. Not bloodly likely in my opinion.
Any help would be appreciated. I am not sure where to go from here.
STeve

 

The carbon doesn't usually split. It just separates from where it is bonded to the rubber. Unfortunately the quality of the seals is not that great. I would just get another one and be very careful when installing it. There is not much else you can do.

Brian

 

330 GT water pump problems appear to be endemic. My rebuilt engine with a new Ferrari supplied kit leaked during initial test drives. It was modified with the heavier spring which lasted about 1200 miles. This time it turned out that the rubber boot had split in 2 places.
Moral of the story: The rebuild kits currently available appear to be unsuitable for use.(except in early VW's)

Cheers
Warren