Water Pump Leak MGZT 190 V6 04 Reg

[Steveh41]

Hi All
i was driving home yesterday and the car sprung a leak, water gushing out of the under tray on the car, after the Rac took me home they said its looks like its coming from the water pump area? after reading a few thread i explored the Thermostat housing first as i hear they are a conmen problem and the water leaks from buy the pump?
i looked in the V and no sign of water or coolant, this is now leading me onto the questions i would like to have answered, i have started to strip the engine down to take a look where the leak is coming from, i am at the point of removing the metal cam belt plate from the engine, has anyone got ant advice other thank i'm stupid for starting this in the first place? :duh:

[SD1too]

Steve,

Keep the engine in an operational state as long as possible. Tracing leaks is so much easier with the engine ticking over. Run the engine and have a really good look yourself.

Simon

[Salad-Dodger]

As Simon has said, keep the engine in a running state. Jack the car up and remove the off side front wheel and the wheel-arch liner. If you look upwards through the wheel-arch, you can see all the lower crank pulley area.
With the engine running you will easily see where the coolant is coming from.
It may be the water pump, or it might be the hose on the rear of the engine block. If its the later you will have an easy fix. oh, and use axle stands! Good luck. Steve.

[kaiser]

If the pump is leaking badly just replace the pump.

If you have a go at the pump, be prepared to change the belts (front and rear), the tensioners and the odd thing that might break during dismantling. It is silly going through the motions without replacing everything, unless you positively know better.

You can change these belts like the OH cam belts on any other car. In that case just leave the front sprockets in place. The timing happens at the rear in any case, and you can regard the front belt much as a cycle chain, just making the things go round. Note the position of the rear belts, this is what you have to have again when all is replaced and ready. There are marks on the rear sprockets and those are the important ones to maintain.!
Set the engine in safe mode with a pin through the bell housing into the fly-wheel, and all the pistons are halfway, valves all being safe.
Don't forget to pre-tension the tensioner when installing the new belts and just go about things methodically.
All plastic bits are suspect and likely to breaking, so take off all the injection piping in one lump, as far as possible. Be prepared to replace the small special O-rings sealing the system where you open.
Have a list ready of where to get what, and allow yourself plenty time to get things right. IOW don't force yourself against deadlines, and have alternative transport ready.
This normally starts as a weekend job, but it will most likely take about 4 times longer than planned, especially if this is the first time.

If you have no clue about things technically, get hold of a friend that does as a first step and look up the experience of others. As for the tools, if you just want to maintain the timing as is, forget about them. You won't need them. They may actually work against you and you could well risk oil leaks and popped oil seals which would be silly and pointless to boot.

[Salad-Dodger]

I can endorse all that kaiser has said...but keep in mind though that if you find any front camshaft seals leaking, you will need the tools to put that right as you will need to undo the cam sprockets to change the seals, thus loosing the correct timing.
Find someone who has tools just in case you need to borrow them! Steve

[DMGRS]

If you're not sure when the belts were last done (or don't have the paperwork for a change) it's a good time to do them - the front belt needs to be removed to access the waterpump.

We have full kit for a good price here:
KV6 Cambelt Kit - Full (http://www.dmgrs.co.uk/collections/cambelt-timing-belt-kits/products/kv6-oem-cambelt-timing-belt-kit-rover-75-zs180-zt160-zt190-inc-all-belts-tensioners-and-water-pump)

If you know they've been done recently and just want to change the pump, we have those too:
KV6 Waterpump - All Models (http://www.dmgrs.co.uk/collections/thermostats-and-waterpumps/products/rover-v6-water-pump-zs180-zt190-75-v6-2-0-and-2-5l-peb102240)

Good luck. :)

[Steveh41]

Hi Guys
thanks for all the help, i have managed to strip the engine down and the water was leaking out of the pulley wheel?, the belt seemed to be very worn and the pulley could spin freely with the belt in place?:shrug:
i will be changing the belts and the tensioner and a couple of other things that got broken while dismantling :duh:
i'll be picking up the parts tomorrow from W H Brand as i stumbled across this little MG dealer less than 10 miles from my house :}
i'll keep you all posted on the results of the rebuild :D

[Salad-Dodger]

Well that's some good news then.
When you do the belt don't forget to pre tension the belt as kaiser has said. Very important that. If you're not sure about anything, just get back on here and ask. Good luck. Steve

[kaiser]

Well done.
Maybe it was a blessing in disguise.
Bent valves from broken belts, or overheating from a dead water pump are usually killers.

[DMGRS]

Agreed, it sounds like you got lucky! :D

Good luck with the rebuild. :)