Water Leak

[fanshawe69]

Hi, I've just joined. I am the proud owner of Williams 0102.

Yesterday I went outside and noticed a puddle developing under my car. Got her up on axel stands this morning and had a look, obviously hard to see what's going on under the bonnet without stripping the body work.

I have traced the leak to somewhere around the water pump, jsut below the alternator. Has anyone had problems with this? Does anyone know what it could be? Faulty hose? Knackerd water pump? Or is it a case of stripping her and working from there?

Many thanks,

Damo

[cliokiz]

Could be the water pump or the lower radiator hose leaking perhaps

[16v_paddy]

Could also be from a knackered hose around the oil cooler area but taking the bonnet & slam panel off will allow you move the rad out the way & get a better look in there without having to drop any of the coolant

[fanshawe69]

I have taken the whole front off now, rad, fan, bumper, bonnet etc and am trying to work out where the problem is. It seems to be coming from the water pump area, so i'm fearing that it's a whole engine out job! fingers crossed that it's a knackered hose.

[cliokiz]

Water pump isn't an engine out job

It can be done in the bay, i've done one before. Wasn't easy but got there in the end

[glyn211269]

Welcome to the site Damo, we've met before if you remember!!

Hope you get 102 sorted, 041 hasn't come out of hibernation yet!

[MatBrown]

Yeah, he was at FCS last year on the Renault owners club stand.

[glyn211269]

Yeah, he was at FCS last year on the Renault owners club stand.

Yeah, and on Renault Owners Club stand at the NEC Classic Car Show, Damo's a nice chap indeed

[Brealbags]

Your already half way to getting the water pump out there pal. Just remove the powersteering pump and brackets and your game on.

However I would have pressure tested the cooling system with the rad and everything on first, then your leak would have been obvious.

Anyway coolant leaks are easy to find and there isn't much in that area it can be. Replace the water pump as a matter of course and then check all the pipes when you rebuild it.

[fanshawe69]

Cheers guys - and Glyn, i do remember you! We killed about 2 hours at the NEC!

So to get the pump out and the like, will I need to go in the front to remove the alternator and subsequently the steering pump and work from there?

I did a half baked pressure test, once I was under the car for initial diagnosis (before I removed the rad) I turned the engine over for about 10 secs which was enough to get the leak flowing and traced the leak up into the mechanics around the water pump and alternator and that's as far as I could see.

Good to know that it's not an engine out job!

Many thanks again guys,

Damo