quote Originally posted by Patrick: When I'm under the car, I can see coolant dripping down directly from the middle of the front of the block/timing chain cover behind the harmonic balancer. Hopefully I'll get a better look today and figure this out.

Interesting. All the coolant passages are way above the balancer. The nearest thing is the water pump itself.
Maybe you'll get lucky and it won't be the timing cover-to-block gasket.

Might try spraying a dusting of baby powder all over the front of the engine. The water should leave tracks where it washes it away.
(As an added bonus, it'll be soft as a baby's behind. )

[This message has been edited by Raydar (edited 04-13-2014).]

[This message has been edited by Patrick (edited 04-16-2014).]

quote Originally posted by weloveour86se: The new water pump should come with a small metal bar or tab thingy. You are going to use this to clamp the timing cover down.

Thanks for mentioning that. I had read about this clamp earlier, but your post was a good reminder to keep this in mind when I went to pick up the pump from a local store. (I could've got the pump for half the price online, but there were a few things I wanted to check in person.)

I had ordered an ACDelco Part # 252613 water pump. First thing I checked was where it was made. China. Oh well, to be expected. Second thing I checked was the impeller. Metal. Good. Third thing I checked was for the clamp. No clamp. Not happy. I asked the counterperson about the clamp. She didn't know what the heck I was talking about. I asked to see if they might have another brand of water pump in stock for the same application. They had a Cardone Select Part # 5513114 pump in the store. Great. She brought it out and I opened the box. Bingo, a clamp! It also had a plug to put in place of the heater hose pipe which isn't required on the water pump with the 88's. (The ACDelco unit didn't have that piece either.)

Here's a picture of the "extras" supplied with the Cardone water pump... the clamp and the plug.



I noticed the Cardone pump had a metal impeller, but I didn't want the Cardone pump. The ACDelco pump was definitely more skookum (solid, heavy) than the Cardone unit. I wanted the ACDelco pump, so I asked if I could have the clamp and the plug from the Cardone box. She asked the manager. He didn't care, so I scored the pump I wanted as well as the extras I needed. Me happy.

I found this bit of info on the clamp at the Cardone site HERE.

quote IMPORTANT: On GM 2.8L engines, the timing cover MUST be clamped to the cylinder block BEFORE removing the water pump attaching bolts. This prevents the timing cover from pulling away from the engine block and breaking the seal. IF the seal is broken, coolant may enter the engine block.

When it stops raining, I'll continue working on the beast. (I'm doing several things to it while I'm at it.)

[This message has been edited by Patrick (edited 05-13-2024).]

I should've updated this a couple months ago...

I want to save those of you with an '88 2.8 a lot of hassle. Don't buy an ACDelco water pump!

As mentioned in my previous post, the ACDelco Part # 252613 water pump does not come with a plug to use in place of the unrequired heater core pipe (which is only necessary for the '85-'87 2.8). I suspect the reason it doesn't come with a plug is because the pipe appears to use a non-standard thread. When I removed the pipe from the pump (with some difficulty), I soon discovered that a replacement plug with a matching thread couldn't be found.

As also mentioned previously, the ACDelco pump doesn't come with the clamp that is required to prevent the timing cover from breaking its seal against the block when the pump is removed.

So...

Get the Cardone Select Part # 5513114 water pump instead. It comes with a plug. It comes with the clamp. (I should also mention that this mass produced stamped-out clamp required a few minutes of "modification" to properly fit where it had to go.)

Speaking about the clamp, I have never seen an image anywhere on the 'net (including Pennock's) of one actually being used. Behold...this is where it goes!



And yes, you install the clamp before you loosen any water pump bolts!

I'll also mention that bolt # 4 in the diagram posted earlier is the only bolt that requires sealant on the threads. I used anti-seize on all the rest.

[This message has been edited by Patrick (edited 05-13-2024).]

Got my first pump from the Fiero store. It came with everything but when I bolted it up, the lug that the bolt (arrowed) goes through on the pump was slightly too small. As a result, as I torqued it up, it got pulled into the gap behind it and of course broke the lug off the pump. Not happy.

I was able to get a Duralast one from the local store so that's what's on there now. The lug at that location is slightly wider on the new pump so it sits on the sides of the opening behind it.

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Anything I might say is probably worth what you paid for it, so treat it accordingly!

Dave

www.ltlfrari.com

[This message has been edited by Patrick (edited 05-19-2024).]