Hey ya'll

Today I noticed a pretty significant water leak coming from my car.

I then jacked up the car to try and figure out where it's coming from. And it's leaking out through the lower part of the timing cover and it's also kinda wet near the top of the block where the water pump is.

the question for me is: Is it the water pump leaking or the head gasket?

I'ts a pretty significant size leak so that makes me think it's the water pump. I wouldnt think a big leak could be coming from the headgasket since it's torqued down so tight but I could be wrong...

also, is there a way I could be 100% sure on which one it is? I cant really do a leakdown test because your really supposed to do that when the engine is at operating temps....

any opinions are welcome!

thanks,
John

 

waterpump, i had that issue before and it poured like rain!

 

Sounds like water pump. Usually, if your headgasket has blown the seal to the outside of the block like that, you would be able to tell ( losing compression, barely running or not running).

 

Definitely your water pump.

 

How many miles?

 

the water pump is prolly 10k old. I put it on when I rebuilt my engine...


thanks for all the help ya'll!

 

yea probably water pump. did you use a factory water pump? only one way to find out, start tearing your car back down. i've seen head gaskets leak pretty bad like that too, but usually not. sometimes you can pull the dipstick and see what the oil looks like because the coolant could have mixed with the oil if it was headgasket. but usually head gaskets you'll get a little misfire, especially when cold and just starting the car.