Hello fellow Brickboarders!

Thanks to the help of several members here, I have finally managed to get my water pump and all its hoses changed. Backbreaking work but so far, knock on wood, it is working well. Why can't they just design this so that fitting a simple 6-inch long hose doesn't take so much time??? (those darn waterpump to head-gasket hoses).

I have some more questions.

There's an oil leak from the timing chain cover gasket. It's not a big leak, so it doesn't look like there is any emergency, just placing cardboard under the car for now. How difficult is that to reach and fix (the garage said it requires a lot of work), and more importantly...how critical? Can it cause bigger problems than just a small oil leak?

Another question is: what the heck are "front strut rod bushings"? Apparently they are worn and old and should be changed, but I really don't know what it is. Is it for a DIYer? I think they told me the biggest inconvenience is that it would make noise.

Well, I do hear some noise, taking the car back ont he road after 2 weeks. For example a "plop plop plop" when the car starts moving and more pronounced plop plop plops especially when the car is moving up and down on uneven road. Can it be due to those front bushings? Nothing to do with that oil leak/chain cover thing? Sometimes it doesn't seem to be coming just from the front, and could be coming from the middle/back, but it's hard to tell and pinpoint it, maybe it's does come from the front.

After doing all that work for the water pump and hoses, I'm just listening to every weird noises, afraid of having messed up something in there :)

But the car seems to be producing quite a bit of noise from...maybe worn shocks, or whatever else is part of that system...

Thanks!

David.