Know this problem well.
It was a great moment when I filled the engine up with oil and water, only
to discover water leaking out of the bottom of the pump. Rather more than a
leak really.
On investigation I found that the pump housing was warped a lot, and there
was no way the gasket could take up the discrepancy.
As the housing is approx. 150 GBP + VAT to replace (yes - that small bit of
alloy casting!) and with the addition of inlet and outlet elbows if
required would have brought the whole up to in the region of 200 GBP I
decided to carefully work away the high areas to achieve a flat surface.
It is important to be careful as apart from wanting to end up with a good
fit, there is a required dimension given in the workshop manual between the
housing and pump impeller. Sorry I haven't got this to hand but I found
Skydrive very ready to give advice. Anyone doing this must also be careful
to avoid damaging the locating lugs.
IMHO, this warping was either there when the factory released the engine or
was induced when the outlet (or is it inlet) elbow was heated and moved
round. I didn't do the elbow work myself but those who did used a blow
torch, contrary to advice. I suspect that this was when the damage was done
- but I couldn't possibly say who did the work ! :-)
Regards,
Peter Davis - almost there!
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