Mounting water pump

[jhwelch]

I've had my water pump off for a rebuild. Now it's time to put it back on. I'd like to get some advice on remounting it.

It took me quite a long time to realize that the 1 inch bolt holding the top part on was too short to "start". There's a bracket for the FWC pump which shares this bolt which is why it is just a tad too short. I went and got a longer bolt, 1 1/4 inch.

Is the hole this bolt goes into long enough to take a little extra length? I do not want to try to tighten it only to find I have stripped threads.

Is it a good idea to put some sealant on this bolt to keep oil from escaping? Right now I have the lower bolt on and once I have the top one snugged up will remove the lower bolt and apply sealant to that. Access is terrible to this area hence the need to ping-pong which bolt is holding the pump on.

-Jonathan

[ILikeRust]

The water pump mounting holes go all the way through the casting, into the interior space, so a little bit of extra length will just protrude into that space. There is a little bit of space there, but if you to too long, I'm not sure whether you run the risk of hitting the drive gear on the accessory drive shaft. I can't recall whether the mounting holes are outside the diameter of the gear or not. And of course, if you really go crazy with an overlong bolt, you'll hit the forward side of the casting - but you'd have to go like an inch and a half or two inches too long.

And yes, you need a gasket with Permatex on one side (I Permatex'd mine to the pump, so when I take the pump off, the gasket comes with it), and I would Permatex the bolt threads. Also use a copper washer on the lower bolt, to prevent oil from weeping out that bolt hole.

[roadnsky]

The water pump mounting holes go all the way through the casting, into the interior space, so a little bit of extra length will just protrude into that space. There is a little bit of space there, but if you to too long, I'm not sure whether you run the risk of hitting the drive gear on the accessory drive shaft. I can't recall whether the mounting holes are outside the diameter of the gear or not. And of course, if you really go crazy with an overlong bolt, you'll hit the forward side of the casting - but you'd have to go like an inch and a half or two inches too long.

As Bill points out, you have a LITTLE bit of extra space, but NOT too much.
IF you go too long, you run the risk of hitting the Accessory Drive on the other side.
Here are a couple of pics of the other side with the drive removed.
You can just see the bottom bolt of my pump and with the "normal" bolt length, it's flush with the wall of the engine casting.
I would think you'd be plenty safe by just adding that 1/4" if it was indeed too short at 1".