hi guys...

anyone by any chance got any pics of the cylinder head/water pump interface...

im looking particularly to understand how the rubber washer seals...

basically im looking at a cylinder head with alledged corrsoion there and thinking of trying the 'fix' for corrosion pits as described in the FAQ for thermostat housing corrosion....but as i will be workign upside down, through the radiator grill area it would be nice to see some pics beofre i start thinking about the job to see the practacality of it and so when im working upside down in a mirror i can 'see' what i should be seeing if you know what i mean...

any pics of the washer/pump would be appreciated too...(never done one...always nice to know whats comming!)

I have successfully used JB Weld to fill corrosion pits under the thermostat gasket. It is going to be a little tougher to do the job upside down.

Let me know if you want a picture of the underside of a head.
--
john

john, if its not to much trouble a pic or too would be great..then at least we know what we are sooting for and what it should look like!

you can email it to me if you like...i have adsl so no worries on the size!

if you happen to have a pump/rubber washer handy a pic of that would be good too so we can assess what is the contact area on the head for the washer if you see what i mean...

again john, many thanks in advance...

I strongly suspect that you've got some pits in the undersurface of the head (the results of corrosion) and these are causing the leakage. Pictures won't help much. What you need is a smooth aluminium surface under the head. Start work with fine carbide paper and graduate to even finer paper to get that surface. If there are any pits, fill them with a stout epoxy. Then sand smooth, clean it off, and install the pump. Lube the top seal, and lever up as noted in the FAQ. That should do it. The only problem that might occur is if the epoxy in the pits fails.

thats the plan!

just wanted a pic as i have never even seen the area in question and i want to 'plan' the operation to ensure i have sufficient access etc (i.e. how much of a bear is it going to be to get at - will we need to pull the rad, if so i will get new hoses up front!...can i get a cabinet scraper in there etc!)

Try the FAQ on changing a waterpump on this forum site.
If you can't locate it it's at: http://brickboard.com/FAQ/700-900/WaterPumpChange.htm
There are some really good pictures there. I recently had a problem with my cooling system and if you look at the picture next to step 6, you will see a red pipe which comes from the heater. See the flange on the end of that pipe, well mine was completely corroded away. I had to fix it and getting the old pipe out was a nightmare. I gave up in the end. Got hold of another pipe from a breakers yard near here, cut off the end that goes into the back of the pump, and then cut off the old end on the old pipe and joined them with heavy duty hose. It's been fine ever since.
Fitting a new pump is not difficult. You'll find that the main thing to remember when you fit it is to use new seals on the red pipe and on the top block joint (these should come with the new pump anyway. Two of the mounting holes on the pump have oval holes and this is so that you can lever the pump upwards, and whilst retaining the pump in this position, tighten up the other bolts (I sem to remember that there are 5 or 6 and they are 10mm.
Allow plenty of time. As for your corrosion, you can't really tell until you've got the thing apart, but you'll probably find that you've got a leaking pipe or rubber eal.
Hope this helps you. Good Luck. Keith /Torquay England UK.

thanks keith...

the corrosion is the problem, the independant volvo specialist has tried 2 new pumps and 5 seals! he's now saying eithere head off and machine work or new engine...

I really don't think that you have much choice but to remove the head. I don't reckon you are going to be able to do an effective repair upside down whilst the head is still in place. You MAY be able to, but I'd be worried about it every time I took the car out! if it fails badly you could be talking new engine!!!
Only then are you going to be able to see how bad the corrosion is, and make a decision on it. I would go one of three ways if I was doing it myself. The first would be my favourite, and the second would be the way I'd go if I couldn't find an old engine at a breakers (unlikely, as there must be loads of them around).

1. Get hold of another head/complete engine from a breakers and have the head off it skimmed just for peace of mind ready to go straight on when you take the old one off. That will save you time. If you get a complete engine you'll have other spares for another time! You can also get your old head repaired and sell it on or keep it as a spare.

2. Take the old head off and try a diy job using whatever grinding tools necessary to remove the pitting (go gently, a Dremel type tool is brilliant for this type of job (if you don't know what that is, no offence, have a look on ebay), and then rebuild the area with a good Epoxy Weld. This is good stuff, don't underestimate it, but you MUST, ABSOLUTELY MUST, give it time to cure. I use Plastic Padding's "Epoxy Weld" and it says that it seals, repairs, fixes, fills, replaces, on aluminium,copper,glass,marble,plastic, steel,stone, wood etc. I hardens in 5 minutes but I always leave the job for at least 12 hours to be sure. Then sand down the resin to get as near a perfect finish as possible.
Brilliant stuff and only about £4.50 a pack.

3. Take the head to a professional engine repair shop and get it repaired, but in that area they will probably not be able to do it and suggest a new head. Again, unitl you remove it, you can't see what's going on.

Let us know how you get on, and good luck with it.

well its my brothers car so its his call!

liek the idea about the replacement head...got to check which head its got first though...i have suspicions it may be the heron headed engine...if so i guess we would be out of luck with the replacement head idea!

thanks for the advice...we have a new engine/box lined up..but seems likea lot of work for a leaking water pump!

I would go with John Sargent's "J-B Weld" (or similar 2-part epoxy putty mix) before even thinking of changing heads. It successfully fixed a gasket surface casting void for me (turbo Oil Inlet flange mount).

A good light and a mirror will show you all you need to know about the head sealing surface. Clean it with solvent & scotch-brite. Then wire brush (brass would be safest) to clean out the pits.

Squeegee on a skim coat of the "weld putty" mix, and level off with a metal straight-edge before it sets, and clean off any extra squeeze-out bits around the coolant hole (basically remove all but what's left in the low spots.)

With a new "mushroom" (flat topped) sealing ring lubed a bit, and levering up on the pump as it's tightened, you'll be good to go.



--
Bruce Young,
'93 940-NA (current)
'80 GLE V8 (Sold 5/03)
'83 Turbo 245
'76 244 (lasted 255,000 miles)
73 142 (98K)
'71 144 (track modified--crusher bound)
New 144 from '67 to '78
Used '62 122 from '63 to '67