Ok, I did the cam & heads swap about 3 weeks ago (200mi). Everything seemed fine until yesterday. I noticed about a 2" puddle in the parking lot under the car. It didn't seem like much and I wasn't even sure It was mine. I went home parked the car and nothing was leaking. So today I drove around about 30mi came home and all is well. I decided to wipe a couple of finger prints off in the engine bay,(after it was parked 20 minutes) and all of the sudden antifreeze starts flowing out of what I now believe is the waterpump weephole. Did we mess something up in the cam & heads swap? I used the Cloyes extreme duty timing set. The car only has 41,000 mi. WTF

 

Sounds like the waterpump just went out. It is 15 years old..and the low mileage means nothing when it comes to corrosion...etc.

 

I debated in my head if I should go with an electric pump or not. I really wish it would have taken a sh*t Before it was all back together. Now if indeed it is the water pump Should I just get a stock replacement? I just hope we didn't do anything wrong to cause it to fail.

 

Now would be a good time to free up a few hp with an electric pump. If you don't want to go that route...buy a stock (new not rebuilt) and you will be all set.

 

The only thing that sucks now about an electric is I just paid $350.00 for that timing set so I could use the gear driven pump. That was an expense I wasn't expecting and now so is this. I can't freakin win.

 

I totally understand that..and have been in your situation too many times to count. Hang in there and put a new stock pump on and enjoy that car.

 

get a new ac-delco waterpump and put it on there..

 

Same thing happened to me. Its not too bad though.

 

So Jon, It was just the water pump went bad and no install mistakes? Because if that is the case I feel alot better. I didn't think we did anything wrong. I was just starting to feel confident about everything and then that happened. I'm trying to figure out what replacement to get. What did you go with? I don't want junk but If I can get a good one without spending the AC Delco money(250ish) I'd rather spend 150ish.

 

Buy a new water pump, don't buy a rebuilt one. Huge mistake!!!

 

oh yeah, a rebuilt one was never an option. I was just hopeing some one would tell me they had good luck with a new Autozone, Napa, Advance ect.... Advance can order the same one's that Summit has GMB or something like that, and it will be here the next day. I just dissassembled everything and took the old pump off. I found that the bearings and the cup that holds them were separated. I don't know but I don't think that was right and might be part of my failure.

 

Nothing was messed up by you IMO. I replaced my water pump at 20K way back when but that was after much track and street high rpms. I don't think the LT1 waterpumps are that durable. After all those mods I'm really surprised you didn't just go for the electric wp.

 

I went electric, not really for any HP increase, but to eliminate a source of Opti failure.
Most waterpumps fail at the rear seal/bearing. When they go, they leak coolant onto the Opti. This additional fluid can cause the Opti to fail.
If you install an EWP, this will eliminate the possibility of the rear seal leaking. Not a very hi-tech reason, but anything I can do to prolong my Opti life is a plus to me.

 

The shop I work for has a basic rule that whenever the cam comes out a new water pump always goes on.


Dustin

 

I wish I knew that rule about 3 weeks ago. I thought about an electric pump when I was getting all my parts together, & something made me decide to get the expensive timming set instead. If it weren't for that now I probally would just go electric. However the stock pump did last 41000 mi & 15yrs and it probally wont see another 41000 mi for 20yrs.