Water Pump Leak

RCman · December 18, 2007

This post is purely out of curiosity...

Well last week I noticed a small amount (about 5" radius) of coolant on the garage floor after having my truck parked there for about 2.5 days. Got up underneath and noticed it was coming from the water pump. I would have replaced it myself, but why when the truck is under warranty and won't cost me anything, right?

Anyway truck was at the dealer today and they had to order the pump and will finish the replacement tomorrow morning. While I was chatting with the GM Tech I asked if this was a common issue or was it just a fluke. Being that my truck is an '03 and had 39551 miles on it when I pulled into the dealership this morning, it seemed like a fluke to me. However, he told me that this was the third one they had done on a 03-04 5.3L Silverado/Sierra in a matter of a month and a half.

Sounds to me like there was someone sleeping in the quality control dept when the water pumps came through the line back in 03/04. No way a truck with under 40k miles should be in need of a pump.

Anyone else had to replace theirs or have it replaced?

broys · December 18, 2007

I had the same thing happen to me about 3 weeks ago. About one month after my warranty ran out and about a week after I finished paying off my loan, the water pump failed. I was very surprised, my truck is an '04 GMC Sierra 1500 with (at the time) only 24,000 miles. I was lucky because I had just bought an extended GM warranty and only paid the deductible.

C & A s Dad · December 18, 2007

If a pump goes bad it typically begins leaking from the weep hole. That is what the hole is there for, to keep the coolant from washing past the bearing assy when the seal fails.

They typically last longer than this but it is hard to judge when they will go out. Most of the supposed WP leaks on the 5.3 are actually gasket leaks. However, if yours was coming from the weep hole, it was the pump for sure.

Sometimes we see brand new ones fail shortly after install. Most all of the time, this is due to seal damage from contamination in the system becuase it was not flushed. We always do our best to convince the customer to flush the system when intalling a new pump.

RCman · December 19, 2007

They typically last longer than this but it is hard to judge when they will go out. Most of the supposed WP leaks on the 5.3 are actually gasket leaks. However, if yours was coming from the weep hole, it was the pump for sure.

Yup, defiantly was the weep hole and thus the pump.

We always do our best to convince the customer to flush the system when intalling a new pump.

See now that's what I had thought. I've replaced a water pump in the past (not on this vehicle, under warranty so it's on GM's dime) and I did the flush at the same time as it seem to make sense. The dealership I brought it to be serviced at was actually a GMC dealer and not a Chevy dealer as the local Chevy dealer is nothing more than a bunch of high school dropouts. Where as the GMC dealership has had the same bunch of guys doing mechanic work for as long as people I talk with can remember, and they've got a great reputation (purchased my Chevy in pretty far away due to a killer deal, otherwise it would have come from mentioned GMC dealer). That being said I was told it was "not general policy" to do the coolant flush, however I asked and it will be done. Not that it really needs it will that low mileage...

obe-kenobe · December 19, 2007

Yeah, I just replaced the WP on my wife's 04 Yukon around 3 weeks ago. It had a slow leak during cold starts and would stops after the truck was warm up. I had the hardest time cause I couldn't see where it was leaking from. Anyway, it was 3 month after the warranty had expired and only 29k miles on it. I got tired of it and replaced the WP myself. It was leaking at the weep hole.

chuck16 · December 28, 2007

Hey All,

Happy almost New Year. I feel bad I haven't been online in a while and now I come here and I feel like I'm leaching loads of information. God I love the Internet.

Ok So here goes, my Water Pump is weeping out the "weep hole" as well 150000 kms and who knows when it was serviced last. Figure I can do it myself but, I'll bring my Dad over anyways as he is a certified Mechanic and loves to tinker.

Here is what I have for a shopping list:

- OEM Water pump not Reman from what I read Bosch or Something like that is the way to go

- Fel Pro Gaskets are a must

- Jug of DexCool. Maybe 2?

- New Thermostat while I'm in there.

- Top Rad Hose and Bottom rad hose. Any other hoses I should get???

- New Serpentine Belt and A/C Belt

One Question I have is. How long should I drive it before I do this. As things that always happen with me it's right before a weekend and We have relatives to visit this weekend. We have a second car so we won't be driving the truck but, how long can/should I drive it with a weepy weep hole... I don't feel really comfortable driving around like this so I guess this weekend I can crack at it... Just wondered is all..

Thanks guys and Happy Holidays.

PS -- When I'm done I'll update my sig. I installed an 05' Suburban Air dam to my stock Air dam and it looks really really cool!!!

-Evan

jrrod2004 · December 28, 2007

it should be covered if your warranty is still in effect.........to illustrate my point, one of my headlights was 'dimmer' than the other and it was replaced under warranty - as the sm told me, if it is not working as it was when it came off the assembly line, and you did not damage/destroy it, then it is GM's problem (under warranty of course).

chuck16 · December 29, 2007

No warranty here.

Got the old one out and now I just have to put the new one out. After I clean the heads where the pump connects...

Came out pretty easy. Had to go buy a bigger Cresent wrench and rubber band clamp... all in all going pretty good. Ran out of steam tonight 4 hours is a pretty good estimate...

Just contemplating changing the hoses.... The old ones are in great shape but, I don't want to have to take it down again this far just to change the hoses in the future...