I changed the timing belt, water pump, etc. about two weeks ago and noticed a coolant smell shortly after. I disassembled the front today and found the water pump gasket was leaking from the lower left (passenger side). The gasket that came with the new pump was metal with a rubber seal built in. Every bolt was torqued to specs per the FSM, so I don't know why it began leaking.

My question is, would you use RTV on one of these gaskets as a safe guard and is it safe to do so?

 

If I remember correctly there are different length bolts. If you put a longer bolt where a short one goes it'll bottom out.

Did you use antiseize on your bolt threads before reinstalling them? They'll lock up and go nowhere, even part way to the hole depth. That sucks.

 

Oh, RTV is good but too much is bad.

 

How did you torque the pump on? Did you put one bolt in and torque it to final torque, put the next one in, torque it to final torque, and so on... or did you do it right and put all bolts in, then snug them all up evenly, then do a first pass at half torque then next pass at final torque, then final pass to verify final torque? If you fully torqued one bolt at a time, then it's possible to have leaks (usually near the last bolts you torqued), because the two sealing surfaces don't end up perfectly parallel.

Also, did you get the seal surface perfectly clean on the block before installing the pump?

 

I suspect there was an issue with surface prep or torquing of the bolts. Use a little bit of RTV next time on the two surfaces but when I say a tiny amount I mean just enough to cover the surface but not enough any noticable amount could be squeezed out from between the surfaces.

 

You really shouldnt need any if the water pump gasket has the seal built onto it. LIke others said, you either improperly torqed the bolts, wrong bolt in wrong hole, or diddnt clean the surface properly.

 

I followed the FSM and alternated tightening each bolt to snug. I torqued in a cross pattern (closest to furthest) untill all were torqued down. For surface prep I used turpentine. This time I'll use some brake cleaner.

Thanks for all the input.

 

That's definately NG because that will certainly leave a residue. Brake cleaner is a much better option. Also make sure the surfaces are completely free of any old RTV or gasket material or the surfaces won't seal right even with the rubber gasket.