My waterpump was weeping slowly from the upper mushroom gasket, and now that
freaezing weather and snow has arrived it's decided to worsen to a steady drip.

I have a new Hepu water pump to install and have some questions:

1. Best way to clean away old gasket ?
I see that Permatex makes a low VOC gasket remover #80645 that's supposed to soften any gasket material for easy removal after a 20 minute soak. It's pricey at $16.99 at the local NAPA.
Then I did a quick search for "Gasket remover recipe" and found out that Naptha
didn't work and probably acetone would send you off to ride a ventilator at the local hospital. This comment was interesting :
"I burn them off with a torch. Any carbon left behind crumbles easily. A propane torch works great, don't use acetylene."

2. Permatex suggests their #22071 for being the best gasket sealer for water pumps and thermostats being the most resistant to antifreeze/ ethyl glycol.
Has anyone confirmed that this stuff works best in the 940?

3. Hepu claims on their site to have special directions for "the correct way to apply sealer" to water pump & gaskets on installation, and It's not on their site. Does anyone have these details?

Thanks, Bill

I just use a sharp wood chisel to remove the bulk of any gasket material, then maybe a solvent like acetone to do a final clean. Just be mindful if it's aluminum and try not to use a chisel that has a bunch of nicks and burrs on it.

why waster products on dissolving the old crud if it scrapes off,, But I'd use something as a final wash to make sure it's oil free too.

If you want to hand lap mating surfaces I just use a thick chunk of glass with a bit of oil on that and a full sheet of wet or dry paper, then I can sand a bit on a waterpump flange etc and see it's flat and clean.


im nt sure what differences you may see in your 900 but this pertains to the redblocks in the 240 or 740 cars..


the waterpump seals to the underside of the head where there are O rings and also to t he back side against the block. make sue that when you tighten it you dont pull the bolts tight against the block and restrict it from moving up enough to put pressure on those top O rings. you'll see when you do it , you are basically pulling it in two directions so the sequence matters.

I often just make up the gasket myself but you can buy the right one and I'd make sure you have the O ring as well..I'd use a non hardening permatex on both sides of that paper gasket to make sure it doesn't leak, but there are lots of choices of products.

a lot of times if you go buy a rebuilt waterpump it comes with a pretty inferior looking cardboard gasket. It'll work but I will often just make my own from a better paper and often they are curled up and dried up from sitting around. You can wet them down if you like.

you may want new belts and if the belts are off kilter sometimes you may choose to change the rubber doughnut things, they wear out and cause the alternator or or power steering or AC ump to sit off kilter.

pull the long bolt out of the alternator and they should pretty much fall out. they may wear a bit oval over time or just go hard or mushy.

when those rubber parts wear they cause the belt not track properly and that causes noise and belt wear.

with the belts off you can go do the timing belt and you can also do the seals behind the timing belt.. since you are draining water you may want to do a rad flush and renew the antifreeze or you can reuse it.. all that is optional of course.

if you have a 16 valve engine it might be different..

in my experience, I'd say there may not be a long period of time between you seeing a little weeping, or a slow drip and a full blown leak that puts the car down, So the repair is something I'd do sooner rather than later down the road and not a job you want to do at the side of the road.. if you do run it out of water and cause the head to overheat, you may be dealing with a head gasket issue next.

Hi Phil,

Permatex sells a flexible plastic scraper kit, I haven't tried yet.
That would be safer than any steel tool on soft aluminum.

I'm intrigued with the comment someone burned off old crusty gaskets with
a propane torch. Maybe done right would work and not do any damage.
You'd need to keep that old gasket debris from getting into coolant passages.

One point that's good is to flush the system before removing the old pump,
keep that old junk away from the new pump.

Don't re-use old coolant and brake fluid etc. except if you are in the Ukraine
and in a hurry trying to avoid a Russian cruise missile.

I'm lucky that it's just weeping instead of completely failed so I can procrastinate until the warmer weather when I'll need a new excuse to stall repairs.

Cheers, Bill

PS: My favorite George Santos joke:
"Not the only liar in the building"

Amazonphil's and Allrounderco Wilson's advice is spot on in my books, right down to using cereal box paperboard as a homemade gasket in a pinch. I once had to do that and used gasket cement in that instance. It lasted for years without further issues. As I've mentioned to you before, gasket sealer is generally not needed between clean and undamaged water pump mating surfaces for the water pump -it's a relatively low pressure system. I don't recall seeing anywhere in actual Volvo service manuals or TSBs about using gasket sealer, leaving it up to the common sense and preferences of the installer.

Phil's also quite right in suggesting that water pump systems rarely fail without giving plenty of advance warning, often over a number of years, and the failure is usually weeping and slow coolant loss, not a sudden major leak or pump seizure. For any sudden failures it's typically the impeller detaching, which is more a function of design and build quality rather than installation and maintenance. I also agree it's a great opportunity to check pulley alignments and replace the rubber mounting bushings as needed.

The Volvo and Hepu pumps have weep holes in the casing, either above or below the water pump bearing, for inspection to give advance warning of bearing seal failure. I had one rather new replacement water pump in my B234F that had coolant in the weep hole that dealer service noted as imminent water pump failure on the invoice. The green coolant remained in sight for many more years without dripping or noticeable loss of coolant. I never did replace that water pump, it was fine, probably just a minor manufacturing issue that allowed a couple of drops a month to escape. (BTW to Phil, the 16-valve B234F uses the same water pump with no additional issues other than the larger valve cover is slighlty more prone to weeping oil at the front, getting oil onto the pump top seal if you continually neglect it).

Some posts here seem to be suggesting there is more than one rubber ring at the top under the head. It's a single rubber gasket, normally referred to as a mushroom shaped rubber gasket. The rubber gasket on the return heater coolant line at the back is generally referred to as a collar rubber gasket. It's almost never a source of leaks in my experience if adequately tightened at installation. Unfortunately, the clamping bolt at that rear connection is out of sight and easily ignored during removal and installation. Even after doing the job a number of times over the years, after 5 years of never doing it, I still often try to pull the water pump off before remembering that bolt.


--
Dave -still with 940's, prev 740/240/140/120 You'd think I'd have learned by now

Hello Dave, I am going to replace the water pump on one of the family B230 940s. I haven't done one in a few years and remember having a hard time getting the bolts started in the round water pump holes after starting them in the oblong holes.
Have you, or any one else, found a good way of prying the pump up to get the bolts started in the round water pump holes?
Thanks-jd620 (it is actually a 1959 John Deere 630 now)
--
Mine:3-940s running; dtrs:4-940s running

Thanks rstarkie and B.B. Great ideas!
--
Mine:3-940s running; dtrs:4-940s running

Thanks rstarke and B.B. Great ideas!
--
Mine:3-940s running; dtrs:4-940s running

Deere 620 John, er I mean Glen.

Before even seeing your query here, my wife discovered coolant trickling across the floor this morning. Guess what needs to be replaced? Yep, the waterpump (my service records say 15 years and over 150K miles, a genuine Volvo one that I picked up slightly used). And our other 940 where I just replaced the leaking radiator three weeks ago is once again starting to slowly lose coolant. I just used a paper towel to determine it's also the water pump (my records say that one is also over 10 years old with over 100K miles on it and it's a HEPU). So I've now got two to do this week and already half way through the doing first one. The GMB pumps from Rock Auto are by far probably the best bang for the buck at the moment, so I've just ordered a second to add to the one I've had on the shelf for a couple of years as I knew both were on borrowed time.

As for getting the bolts through the water pump started, both Randy and Spooky Jay have valid suggestions, plus I can offer more.

I will caution you about using a jack under the water pump. First off, you need to drop the belly pan, which often means dealing with an increasing number of cracked/broken mounting tabs. You have to be careful not to overdo it. I vividly remember the second red-block water pump I ever did, over 30 years ago now, and jacking it up from below. I must have given the jack just one pump too much as it cracked the aluminum pump housing (I vaguely recall it was a HEPU and after cracking it I'm fairly sure I went for a genuine Volvo one).

The Volvo procedure calls for the pump to be placed over the studs (the elongated holes) then lifted by hand to place and tighten the other three bolts. The upper right bolt is usually the easiest to get started by lifting up on the right side. You can then use it as a pivot to lift up the left side of the pump to place the other two bolts. A lot can depend on the thickness of the upper mushroom gasket as to whether you need prying assistance to get the bolts started. For final tightening, I pry up from below using a lever across to the power steering pulley and tighten the nuts to the specified 15 ft-lbs, although I usually tighten them a bit more than that. Don't forget to put the nut and bolt underneath on the left to secure the heater return pipe.
--
Dave -still with 940's, prev 740/240/140/120 You'd think I'd have learned by now

Thanks Dave Stevens!

I replaced the water pump a couple days ago and used the small screw driver method in the round hole on the close to bottom of the pump (rstarkie's post) to lift the pump and get the 3 screws very easily started. The pump was a Hepu.

Prepping, I ran a 6mm X 1.00 tap into the 3 holes and blew them out with compressed air. One of the holes on top was a bit hard to screw in a bolt before cleaning it out with the tap.

I used a very thin coating of gun grease on the gasket and "Permatex water pump and thermostat RTV #22071" on the top of the mushroom gasket. The RTV helped slide the mushroom gasket into place on the head with a little help from finger pushing.

No leaks!

I left the P.S. belt looser (more loose?) than I have in the past in hopes of the pump lasting a long time.

--
Mine:3-940s running; dtrs:4-940s running

Dear jd620,

Hope you're well and stay so!!! I use an hydraulic bottle jack and a short length of 1" x 2" lumber (the board) cut to length. I use gasket adhesive to secure the gasket to the pump. I then emplace the pump, using the bolts through the oblong holes. I snug, but don't tighten those bolts.

I then position the jack and the board, so that one end of the board is flat against the pump's bottom. I then use the jack very, very slowly to raise the pump, until I can start the bolts, that go through the round holes.

This method frees-up both hands, so I can use one to keep the pump pressed against the block while I get all of the bolts into position and tightened.

Water pump installation is most easily done by a human with three or four arms!!!!

Hope this helps,

Yours faithfully,

Spook

I will reply to your post because I wrestled with this for a long time before I was convinced to try the method described by someone here and seconded by several more.

"Hang" the pump on the oblong shaped holes and tighten those fasteners a bit (not enough to restrict the pumps ability to move). Then insert a Phillips head screwdriver through a lower round hole and into the block. Then simply use the screwdriver as a lever to raise the pump. When in the proper position it is easy to get the bolts started by hand.

The screwdriver needs to be a loose fit in the block. Initially I was worried about damaging the threads in the block but that was not the case.

I quickly became a believer in this method as I had used various other methods that finally worked but was much harder than it should have been.

Randy
--
Any twenty minute job is just a broken bolt away from a three day ordeal

You know what water pumps DO fail without warning? Electric ones!


With regard to belt-driven traditional style pumps, I did have a BMW (1985 535i which must have been about 10 years old at the time) who's pump appeared to suddenly fail without warning, blowing all the coolant out the weephole. In retrospect, I was a teenager then, and more interested in adding parts from Bilstien, Eibach, BBS, Hella, Zender, and the like, and perhaps missed the warning signs...

I actually thought they may fail without warning so I'd replace it if I saw any water coming out the weep hole. I had one or two experiences where they did fail quite suddenly so Ill often just change it if I move to a new old Volvo ;-) I haent' seen one drip for a long time, but I've had relatively few waterpump failures.

If I use a sharp wood chisel I don't find myself gouging into the aluminum, Just like using a razor blade it just takes some care to not dig in and the chisel can't be all nicked or it'll scrape. I do some woodwork so I know how to sharpen them up nicely, that helps.

a dremil may not be so bad but I'd be careful with a die grinder as it may eat a hollow in the aluminum. I have one and can fit cutters and it will do amazing things like cut slots in thick steel plate, but I keep that thing put away. I think they are the most dangerous tools made. They have no guarding and so much speed and power, you can loose a whole lot of your own meat in an instant. If I use one Ill use two hands held away from me and anticipate the thing catching on stuff and moving abruptly. face shield and safety glasses. Its one tool I have such great respect for that Ill often find some other way rather than using it.

I use a non hardening permatex sealant, its a lot like tar or window sealant, I think it's gasoline compatible. I find I dont like RTV just because I hate dealing with the stuff, Its hard to dissolve. if oil is present it wont stick, Lots do like it and there is probably no issue with using that product, I know it's common.

depending on where these pits are maybe its worth returning , if it's just a dibit I might just use JB weld , its ok for that, its just filling a hollow and not part of a mechanical structural part. I'm sure you can return it , just an inconvenience, if time matters.

If the coolant looks green and fresh I just put it through a coffee filter, you can replace as you like. and you can use a rad flush..

be careful about pets, i make sure I get mine back int a bottle where my cat can't get into it. maybe they changed formulations but pets can die a horrible and painful death from it and evidently it isn't very bad tasting to a pet.. maybe cats are more fussy than dogs but i dont take chances with that. I'd hate to kill someone's pet just because I walked away and didn't look after that.

often when I go to buy coolant I find they sell it watered down so they are basically selling us a bunch of water. I think it's just a sales gimmick. I suppose it prevents people in hard water areas from using tap water. I try to look for the undiluted stuff.

you can check the thermostat and it's gasket. I dont know if you can buy just a new gasket, probably. the gaskets go crumbly in time. if you want you can boil it in a pot with a thermometer and watch when it opens. they usually aren't so expensive anyway. I think you need a gasket there as well,

if I want o remove a stud Ill often lock two nuts together, in a pinch I can usually cut a bolt off or run the threads down further with a tap, the OEM studs are probably decent quality if you use a bolt I'd use a decent grade and not a low grade stove bolt. I think sometimes I just hate going shopping or waiting for an order so then I may use a workaround like that if that's all that's holding the job up. I'd look at those studs and make sure they aren't rusted thin or anything. most often i can salvage a stud from something else.

the gasket material you can get in big sheets and then I'd just lay that over the housing , take a small ball peen hammer and tap around the bolt holes until they poke through, insert some bolts so the gasket can't reposition and then use the ball end of a tiny ball peen hammer to cut the gasket by tapping all around the edges. often just marking it that way is ok, then use scissors to follow the line that transfers. you dont need to bash anything hard just lots of gentle taps.. If you make your own you can choose a decent quality of gasket paper. they may sit in the box with the waterpump for some years before being sold, sometimes they are a bit twisted up and hard to manage or just cheap material.

I bought a gasket for under my rocker cover, gee the thing was so thin and hard to place, the gasket was probably all shrunk and hard and twisted. bolt hole pattern didn't fit too well. I had to wet it to get it in place. I think I fought with it and used it anyway but the OEM ones might be a lot better than the one I got. It may have been something from Rock auto and maybe I just got one made to Chinese quality standards.

When I did mine, I used a new blade in a scraper handle, followed by a green Scotchbrite pad (by hand). This was with the studs removed for replacement. Besides ensuring you have nice new studs, replacing them makes the cleaning so much easier. Probably a wash time -wise. The hard to reach part of the head I just did with Scotchbrite, and used a mirror for inspection. I also cleaned the heater tube section that has the rubber which goes into the pump with the Scotchbrite. It all cleaned up pretty well for me. I installed the gasket dry, and used only water for the two rubber bits. Unfortunately while doing the job, I forgot the recommendation for silicone grease. Nevertheless, it all went well, and no leaks so far.

Thanks for the comments.

Did the studs come out easily?
I looked quickly and saw some crazy price for studs $14-15 and will re-use if
possible, they aren't cylinder head bolts.

Where did you see directions to use silicone grease on the gaskets?

No response from e-mails to Elring or Professional Parts Sweden tech support
about sealant applications for the three gaskets.

The Pro Parts Sweden Pump gasket kit 26430667 has 5 copper washers and the three gaskets.
Hepu P053 supplies the pump, three gaskets, two hex washers, and three hex bolts.

I hope to stall this job until spring when can take my time flushing out the old coolant, and not be worried about frostbite, NOAA predicts -7F tomorrow night
in my DIY Garage, AKA driveway.

Two more questions:
1. What do you think of the Gates coolant accessory that uses compressed air to flush the coolant? No toxic chemicals, but maybe blow out your radiator core?

2. Where do I safely dispose of old coolant?

Thanks, Bill

You're welcome. I'm glad if I can offer some help after receiving so much myself here on Brickboard.

Yes,both studs came out quite easily using the double nut method. I used these genuine Volvo studs for under a $5'er for both: https://www.fcpeuro.com/products/volvo-engine-water-pump-stud-genuine-volvo-924056

I read the grease tip in the Swedishbricks FAQ: http://www.swedishbricks.net/700900FAQ/Cooling1.html#Water_Pump
It's really just to assist assembly. I may have used a smear of spent coolant, but honestly, I probably just used saliva on both the rubber bits.

I used everything in the Hepu kit, plus the Volvo studs. It all seemed to work well.

Whereabouts are you located, Bill? Here in Connecticut, we are presently seeing a dip in temps for a few days (dipping into the negative at least one night), but by next week it's back in the mid to upper 40s during the day, and right around freezing at night. My 5yo learned about Puxatawney Phil at Kindergarten today, and had a nice little craft project proclaiming six more weeks of winter. And I'm still waiting for winter to arrive... Ironically, I spent Christmas in Orlando, and they were having record cold for December. I actually saw what I thought were flurries, and everyone was wrapping their plants to protect from frost. Last time I was there in December, I recall riding my bike at night in short sleeves... Anyway, yeah, working on a cooling system in the cold does not seem like fun. Hope that works out in your favor.

I'm going to have to familiarize myself with the Gates accessory - I've not heard of it before. It sounds pretty neat. I imagine the trick is getting the right volume of air through the system, not necessarily a high pressure.

Are you in the US? I was under the impression that places which sell coolant here must also accept waste coolant. I think that's the rule for motor oil, at least. So I'll be bringing mine back to where I purchased it, which happens to be FCP. I have some oil to "return" to them anyway, so I'll make the 45 minute drive. But if I wasn't going there, any parts store should take it. I know I've previously taken mine to Autozone (huge chain store) and the like.

Oh, and one thing I did which I didn't mention: The long bolt that holds the pipe for the heater hose to the pump was pretty cruddy. Not rust, more like calcified coolant. So I just ran a die over it, and used plenty of anti-sieze compund to ease the job for the next victim - which, as I like the car so much, will probably be me.

-Wilson

Hi Wilson,

I'm in Swampscott, MA (Boston North shore), not too far.
Lately I bring old oil to Wally world, I'll check to see if they take
old antifreeze.

Just go to Gates.com and search coolant or water pump and you's see this
expensive looking air gun with a big tapered rubber cone to jam in the coolant pipe. You might unhook the radiator and flush only the block to be on the safe side, in which case you could do it by finding a rubber cone and make your own fixture with ordinary air gun fittings.
I dunno if you can damage anything in the block with this system, maybe you can find the instructions for that critter at Gates site.

Cheers, Bill

PS: My 2nd favorite George Santos joke:
Told by a gay comedian on Kimmel who roasted Santos and finished talking
about Santos when he was dressed as a drag queen in Rio:
"....George's mascara looked like a hate crime by Mabelline."

Bill,

If you have a dump or a recycling center in Swampscott they should take antifreeze. I brought my antifreeze to the local dump.

Jim
--
Will I buy another Volvo??? We'll see....

Hi Bill - I knew your location, just forgot. We touched on that back in December when you were helping me figure out the best way to improve my headlights without paying up for E codes.

Yeah, that Gates system is interesting, and appears to have merit. I don't have a suitable compressor anyway, so I'm not going to ponder it too much, but in the era of aluminum heat exchangers, I can see why avoiding chemicals would be desirable. I had one aluminum radiator fail on me (2001 Mini Cooper). That same car also had pitting on the machined surface of the cylinder head (where thermostat housing mated). The pitting was so bad, the O-ring for the housing leaked. So there was probably a lack of maintenance, or improper coolant used at some point. That car took $11 a PINT, pre-diluted coolant, so yeah, I can see why someone might have cheaped out on that... I was able to fix the leak by filling the pitting with JB Weld.

Anyway, the cooling system repair to dread on these Volvos seems to be the heater core, or so I hear. I've done three that I can recall (not counting aircooled VW systems): A '73 Plymouth Duster without AC, a 1983 Ford Mustang with aftermarket AC, and a 1999 Dodge Ram 2500. The first two were cake. The Ram was rough, but I survived :-) That last one wasn't even leaking, just so clogged, the heat wasn't very good. Maybe the Gates setup could have helped that one? Ironically, the first two (which were leakers) were brass - granted they were already both old cars at the time. So maybe I'm too harsh on aluminum.

Stay warm,
Wilson


Thanks for the joke. It was totally out of context for me, as, despite vaguely knowing who Santos is, I am completely oblivious to the scandal. A few years ago I decided to take a break from news, etc. I liked that so much, I never went back. I'm not on any social platforms, either. Which, in my case at least, proves none of this has any meaningful impact on my life. The stuff I need to know will make its way to me. Not saying anyone else should try this. For goodness sake, I know my peculiarity would not work for most.

Thanks for the comments.

Did the studs come out easily?
I looked quickly and saw some crazy price for studs $14-15 and will re-use if
possible, they aren't cylinder head bolts.

Where did you see directions to use silicone grease on the gaskets?

No response from e-mails to Elring or Professional Parts Sweden tech support
about sealant applications for the three gaskets.

The Pro Parts Sweden Pump gasket kit 26430667 has 5 copper washers and the three gaskets.
Hepu P053 supplies the pump, three gaskets, two hex washers, and three hex bolts.

I hope to stall this job until spring when can take my time flushing out the old coolant, and not be worried about frostbite, NOAA predicts -7F tomorrow night
in my DIY Garage, AKA driveway.

Two more questions:
1. What do you think of the Gates coolant accessory that uses compressed air to flush the coolant? No toxic chemicals, but maybe blow out your radiator core?

2. Where do I safely dispose of old coolant?

Thanks, Bill

I use a die grinder with a wire brush attachment to clean off the remnants of the old gasket after first using a razor blade. The razor blade is in a holder that converts it to a scraper.

I don't use any gasket cement or sealer on the gasket. I do however use silicone on the Oring on the heater pipe as well as the opening it slides into on the pump. It acts as a bit of lube as well as an extra measure of sealing.

I make sure the mating surface for the seal on the head is very clean and I even put a thin layer of silicone there as well as on the seal.

I consider the design of the contact between the head and the water pump to be a very poor one. I count on my water pumps lasting 100,000 miles. However, in my experience that seal will need to be replaced at least once or perhaps twice before 100,000 miles mark is reached. I find the seal that comes with the Hepu pumps to be a better quality than the ones available aftermarket.

Randy
--
Any twenty minute job is just a broken bolt away from a three day ordeal

Randy, totally agree, but do you mean silicone grease or silicone sealant? I use a wipe of petroleum jelly, which I recall is what Volvo calls for on top of the rubber mushroom gasket. Using something greasy (that doesn't affect rubber) allows movement under the head flange during final positioning swinging the pump up into place so the lip of the gasket doesn't stick and accidentally fold over. Like you, I'll also use a wipe on the block side of the main gasket to allow later positioning without damaging the gasket, also on the return line rubber collar, but I don't recall that Volvo called for either. This shouldn't be needed on a nice clean surface, but I usually do it anyway.

A comment I made to Bill earlier is running a bead of RTV around the outside of the mushroom gasket lip. It's not for sealing the gasket, but rather for providing protection from oily grunge (weaping valve cover gasket and oil spills when filling) getting into the crack below the head flange and slowly ruining the rubber gasket, making it gummy and prone to leaking. When the pump is forced up for final tightening (I pry it up) the RTV will ooze out the side and the excess easily wiped or scraped off. The small amount doesn't make pump removal any more difficult next time and there's minimal extra cleanup as long as it doesn't get forced into the grooves. It's a useful trick one of the old pros recommended here years ago. Probably more important if you're using a cheap aftermarket gasket set with inferior rubber compounds rather than the Volvo rubber, the Hepu gaskets also likely being good quality.
--
Dave -still with 940's, prev 740/240/140/120 You'd think I'd have learned by now

I use silicone sealant. I think it serves as a lube before it cures.

I had not thought about a larger helping of the silicone to isolate the seal from the oil that has a tendency to escape it confines. I may try that next time (and there always seems to be a next time)

Randy
--
Any twenty minute job is just a broken bolt away from a three day ordeal

Hi Randy,

Thanks to you and the other Brickies for the comments. I've been chasing info.

I smell a rat in the conflicting info to install the B230FT water pump.
My new Hepu/OEM water pump has several defects from machining and mishandling after machining and possibly Hepu forgot to machine the upper seal surfaces
where the upper round eslatomer gasket (AKA Mushroom gasket) mates to the pump.
I have a series of photo's to post but only get an error message.

Are the OEM pumps machined at the upper round gasket mating surface?
This Hepu is not machined there, It has an ugly rough surface including two deep dents in the aluminum casting.

I want to e-mail a photo to you.

Do you have photo's of the failed upper gasket?

The round gaskets are made out of elastomer compounds,
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elastomer
Find out more than you ever want to know about this assortment of synthetic rubber compounds.
Some chemicals attack elastomer compounds. So maybe you need a "sensor safe"
sealant, or certainly if you use sealant it has to be compatible with the gasket material.

Hepu indicates some RTV sealant needs to cure in air maybe an hour before installing?

RTV cures in air.

Hepu's secret flyer "The correct way to apply sealants"
referred to in their installation directions is missing at Hepu's website.

Hepu's Tech support boffin and his Technical advisor both ignore e-mails.

FCP Euro couldn't get that info either even after I suggested that Scott should take those mute Hupu dudes on a holiday to Guantanamo Bay to be waterboarded until they cough up their German Technical Secrets.

Stephanie FCP tech did send All Data installation directions, but applying or not applying sealants, and which sealant to use and how is missing.
It's also missing in the Haynes 940 service manual where they make a passing reference to clean the old sealant off the engine mating surfaces.

Meyle tech support was very good and sent some Alldata info saying to use only "non volative oxygen sensor safe RTV" on the big composite gasket. Another Alldata page saying No RTV on the O-rings, (Are those two round gaskets O-rings?)

You can't put too much sealant on Pump gaskets since you must not get RTV in the coolant. It can destroy the main shaft bearing seal and then the pump will fail. (Photos at Gates website) There's one landmine to avoid.

Permatex brags about their "Water Pump & Thermostat Housing Gasket maker" # 22071 RTV with the highest resistance to water and Ethyl Glycol. Permatex didn't mention if it attacks elastomer compound gaskets. Maybe they are thinking only about the big composite gasket material where the pump mates to the block?
I couldn't find a phone number to chat with a Permatex genius.

I did see a warning in my surfing about using power tools to clean gasket mating surfaces. Definitely NOT on the head surfaces. More info about that on request.

Bill

Hi Bill,

Did you contact FCP about the poor casting of the Hepu water pump they supplied? I would expect them to make that right once they are notified.

I don't have any photos of a failed upper gasket. I can tell you that by the time I get tired of topping up the coolant as well as looking at the problem it gets quite ugly.

Reference to avoiding RTV on pump seals: I have done it more or less the same way for a very, very long time. That includes the use of silicone RTV in the way I described. I have a tendency to disregard warnings about things that I have done numerous times without consequences.

I haven't been able to send internal emails in the Brickboard for a very long time. If you would like to send some images I have an account that I consider insecure and only use occasionally just for things like this. I consider it my spam account since once an address is posted openly that is what I get the most of there:vguy240atyahoodotcom.

Randy
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Any twenty minute job is just a broken bolt away from a three day ordeal

OK on the die grinder, a Dremel tool on steroids. I see Harbor Freight just announced one at $70 available next month.
How did you deal with the area up top where the mushroom gasket seats and where it leaks here. It's impossible to see what you're doing unless you're a dentist maybe.

I may have to return the Hepu pump since it had a damaged face where it mates to the engine block. After dressing with a stone there's still a nasty pit that is maybe 0.010" deep. Also the sand casting on the outlet pipe where the mushroom gasket seats has some defects, so installing this pump will need a sealer.

Brickboard won't upload photo's for me.

Maybe I should return the pump to FCPEURO? I'll talk to them monday.

Bill

The Dremel would probably be easier to maneuver in that area.

I clean the mating surface with the razor blade. I then use a mirror to look it over before giving it a quick wipe with lacquer thinner.

I would reject the Hepu pump if any of the mating surfaces were questionable. I would think FCP would pay the freight on something defective they shipped out.

Randy
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Any twenty minute job is just a broken bolt away from a three day ordeal

Hi Randy,

I tried sending you some pictures, But no soap with Brickboard e-mail busted.

I looked at Permatex gasket sealers and some of the sealants are good for pits
0.015" and one is good for 0.020". So probably the new pump could be used, but
maybe fail like my old one one from gasket failure and not the bearing or bearing seal going away.

Next I'll call FCP and see what they say.

Thanks, Bill

two notes.

file a small bevel around the end of all the bolts. this makes the bolts much easier to install. I also coat them with anti-seize. a rusted bolt is hell to get out.

I slather the mushroom gasket with white grease (as well as the metal). That gasket to slide/move both horizontally and vertically. It needs to be slippery.