Hi Guys, discovered this the other night after taking the car for a short blast and letting it idle to cool down whilst talking to my buddy. Looked over the passenger side, saw water running on the ground from under my car, started snooping around and found it was dripping from here, turned car back on and saw that it drips faster when car is running, doesn't ever squirt or pour out, just drips whilst car is off, or drips fast while idling. car temps seem fine, but didnt really drive hard after discovering this. Anyone else had this seal leak? Anyone know the part number for it? Also, should the seal be sitting the way it is?? How many hours labour is involved to get to this seal??

 

your water pump hose probably bursted or the clamp let go. The pump is on drivers side...

 

The leak is on the passenger side right? The elbow with the allen screw is held in with 2 10mm headed bolts, there is a O-ring under that. but the other side of that elbow is a nipple that has 2 O-rings on it. either way you will needed to remove the elbow. It also can be dripping off the head or head gasket and making it way down. I have seen some bad head casting that leaked. I think O-rings or the allen head screw may have loosened.

 

Thanks for the info guys, but should the O ring be sitting the way it is in the pic?? Isnt it sticking out a bit. Yes the leak is on UK Drivers side/US Passenger side....RIght hand side of car.

 

The fat rubber ring does not seal anything. There is two O-rings on the nipple under it. Water pump is on the other side.

 

That is what you have to look for , item #18. Be sure the leak is not coming from a higher point......

 

Leak could also be coming from the coolant overflow tank. They are known to leak as they age.

 

Thanks for all the input guys!! The water temp stays fine throughout hard driving etc.. I have been taking a safety precaution by leaving the bleeding valve thingy in the up position on the coolant header tank, in order to relieve pressure on the seal. I will be replacing items 18 and 19 on the diagram shown by jpflip. I did a test of putting some cardboard under the car in that area of the water pump/seal and it was dripping ever so slightly. I took the seal out last night and reseated it, the leak has gotten much much better already.

 

Don't know if this is the cause of your problem but I'll post it for info.
Have you had the engine carrier plate off recently, or slackened the bolts that hold it to the back of the engine by any chance?

I had that seal start to leak after I slackened the 4 bolts that hold the carrier plate to the back of the engine. What happens is those bolts also hold the water pump housing (part no 1 in the above diagram) which then moves slightly due to the tension from the drive belt. It moves the most at the point where your is leaking, which then causes it to leak.

I stopped mine leaking by first taking the tension of the belt, then slackening the four bolts, gave the housing a wiggle side to side,
to re-centralize it, retightened the four bolts then put the belt tension back on and its been fine since.

The manual states to put a bolt back in if you ever remove the carrier plate as there is nothing holding the waterpump housing otherwise.

And

 

Forgot to say I tried taking off the elbow that bolts to the head first, but it was obvious the two tubes were not in line, thats when I worked out it was the waterpump housing that had moved.

And