[shandy92]

hey all,

in a few w.e's ill be pulling the front of me engine apart to replace a water pump gasket, which isnt sealing and slowly weeping coolant out. no, its not weeping from the "weep hole" but from the gasket surface its self.

the water pump was done at 160xxx and is now on 190xxx, would you replace it or just new gasket and reuse pump?

while im there im going to put a "genuine" thermostat in, i put a new thermostat in prob around the same time as the water pump but it has been gay (sometimes becoming stuck open, not reaching running temp) for the past 15 thou. now coming into winter its not even heating up....in summer it still got to temp.

ill also put a new temp sensor in, because its prob 15 yrs old and i want to eliminate as many thing going wrong as i can.

2 of the hoses were done at 160xxx and the 3rd was done 10k ago, should i worry about them?

coolant is ok, always keeping an eye on it (almost daily, to check level is ok) and its not that old. radiator cap is reasonable new 15k, rad was roded and flushed at 160xxx.

timing belt is only 10k old, so will reuse that. i should of done ^^^^ then, but i tighten up the bolts hoping that would fix the issue. it DIDNT

doing all this should fix my issue of coolant going into the overflow bottle and not returning, im pretty sure the water pump gasket leak is the culprit because it is allowing air to enter the system therefor not being a sealed system and not having the pressure to make the coolant from the overflow tank to return back into the radiator. opinions????

thanks in advanced.
Mitch

[want33s]

If the pump is only 30,000km old I wouldn't replace it unless there was signs of leakage from the weep hole.
Replacing a faulty thermostat is a good idea.
The temp sender can be tested for resistance values easily enough... They hardly ever crap out.
I'd inspect and replace any water hose that is either hard/crunchy or very soft.
New radiator cap won't hurt while your at it.

[shandy92]

thanks want33's,
how long are water pumps expected to last?
the sender: im going to see how much it is to replace (non-genuine), if its cheapish then i will, if not ill test it.
you say "hard/crunchy or very soft." the newish hoses arent hard nor soft just firm. how do you know when firm turns into hard?.....how long is the life expectancy of a hose? 50 thou?
ok will replace the cap.

Mitch

[Ben_Sierra]

shandy92 wrote:

thanks want33's,
how long are water pumps expected to last?
the sender: im going to see how much it is to replace (non-genuine), if its cheapish then i will, if not ill test it.
you say "hard/crunchy or very soft." the newish hoses arent hard nor soft just firm. how do you know when firm turns into hard?.....how long is the life expectancy of a hose? 50 thou?
ok will replace the cap.

Mitch

Tridon senders are about $10-$15... Easy to do any time though, doesn't have to be while its all apart...

I would say that what want33s means by hard is going brittle...

Hose life will depend on years as well as km...

[want33s]

On average I'd say a water pump would last 80-100,000km.
Hoses about the same but I've seen 30 year old 400,000km cars with original hoses still in good condition..
Depends a lot on usage.
A new temp sender is only about $15 but like I said, they hardly ever die.

Feeling hard or soft hoses is an experience thing.... Go to Supercrap and squeeze all the hoses there... Then go squeeze your hoses and you'll know what I mean...

Don't forget to add inhibitor... I'd recommend Castrol in the small plastic bottle.

[fordem]

want33s wrote:

Feeling hard or soft hoses is an experience thing.... Go to Supercrap and squeeze all the hoses there... Then go squeeze your hoses and you'll know what I mean...

Please squeeze with the engine cold - with a hot engine the cooling system is pressurized and will take more effort to squeeze, possibly giving an incorrect "feel".

Something also worth a glance is the change in hose diameter between a hot & cold engine - when a hose starts to get soft & weak, it has a tendency to expand more under pressure and this expansion is especially visible right next to the hose clamps.

[shandy92]

ok, so 1/3rd of its life is not worth replacing? this will be the third time to front cover has come off and im getting really tired of doing it.

inhibitor? meaning coolant additive? some please explain the advantages of using inhibitor's.

fordem- thanks for that, i haven't really thought about that but sounds like a good idea. might measure the OD diameter cold and hot and compare them

i just realised its going to be Easter when i was planning on doing this, at least i got 5 days to play with, i love long weekends

cheers

[whincup]

shandy92 wrote:

inhibitor? meaning coolant additive? some please explain the advantages of using inhibitor's.

inhibitor is just being specific. most people call it coolant, but thats not technically correct since the water is the coolant, the additive just prevents rust and corrosion... unless you buy one that specifically says anti-boil or anti-freeze, which you shouldnt need in a properly working suzuki engine.

[want33s]

shandy92 wrote:

inhibitor? meaning coolant additive? some please explain the advantages of using inhibitor's.

Coolant is water. .... Water is coolant.

Inhibitor is the green or red stuff you add to the water to stop your alloy block, head, manifold etc being eaten away by electrolysis corrosion. VERY important in a Suzuki.
Inhibitor is not generally anti freeze but some combination inhibitor/anti-freeze are available.
Never mix inhibitors.. Unless you are sure they are compatible you should drain and flush, then refill cooling system.

[shandy92]

ok well i use nulon red premix, have been using it since i had my over-heat about a yr and a bit ago. it has been changed since then and constantly being added to. only even used rain water once, popped a hole in a hose about 60k from home. had to get home some how.

so are you saying buy new coolant or an additive for the coolant?

cheers