Stag water leak ...

[fatpasty]

Noticed a water leak on top of the engine last night.

Could this be the water pump seal? Checked all hoses and all seams fine. Can't see where it is coming from but it is forming a little puddle on top of the engine.

Any suggestions?

Cheers

[330p4]

More than likely but if the heads have been skimmed in the past the inlet manifold needs skimming to match and if the alignment is not spot on it can leak at the waterways. Is there loads of sealant at the inlet manifold /head joint ?
Ian

[fatpasty]

I will have to check. From what I remember no. But will double check. A guy on a stag forum said it could possibly be the water pump seal or the inlet gaskets.

Will have to try investigate further.

[varsas]

I'm sure you know, but the inlet manifold is a structural part of the engine, the heads are (should be) torqued up against it. What I'm saying is don't 'just' remove the inlet manifold because you suspect it might be leaking, as you'll disturb the heads and might trigger head gasket failure.

A picture of the puddle might help, when you say on top of the engine do you mean literally on top of one of the cam covers or on the side of one of the heads or in the valley between the heads?

[fatpasty]

Gathers at the back in the little valley between the two heads.

Yes I know about the inlet, another forum advised a method of trying to loosen or tighten the bolts / if they don't move then it is more the case of being a inlet gasket failure. Not too sure on how much this is true and whether I want to mess about trying to undo etc if I don't need to.

Haven't had chance yet to have a play around to have a good look at what or where the water is coming from.

[varsas]

fatpasty said:

Gathers at the back in the little valley between the two heads.

Yes I know about the inlet, another forum advised a method of trying to loosen or tighten the bolts / if they don't move then it is more the case of being a inlet gasket failure. Not too sure on how much this is true and whether I want to mess about trying to undo etc if I don't need to.

Haven't had chance yet to have a play around to have a good look at what or where the water is coming from.

Oh right, the engine isn't in the car flat so a leak from anywhere will tend to gather there. Hopefully it's something simple, maybe worth checking the hoses when the car is hot and running? I had trouble with the inlet manifold bolts. A bit like the head bolts they corrode into the heads, I sheared one of the bolt heads off one of the longer bolts. Drilling that out and then helicoiling the head was a bit of a pain.