Chevy van leaking coolant from pump

Nissan11

Nissan11

Well-Known Member
Joined
Nov 29, 2005
Location
Marston, NC
My dad has this 91 Chevy 3/4 ton van. It's started dumping coolant and when I crawled under it I saw the coolant leaking from this home in the bottom of the pump? What is that hoke for and why is it leaking coolant?
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It's the weep hole. The packing that keeps coolant out of the bearing is bad. It means it's time to replace the pump. No big deal.

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If you plan on keeping this van for a while, do not buy a cheapo pump! They are not worth it and from my experience will end up costing you more in time, coolant and gaskets doing it the second and third time. Its very common for the auto zone valucraps to go out while still under factory warranty.
 
Nissan11 said:
The new pumps at advance auto are car quest brands for $30-$40. Are you suggesting I buy an OEM pump from a dealer?
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That would be the best but just as long as its not the cheapest one on the market then it'll be OK. Get what you pay for. You may have better luck than me with accessory stuff.
 
where ever you buy, get NEW, not reman or rebuilt, price wise thery're within a few bucks of each other, quality varies greatly. I tend to favor Carquest and NAPA as I've always had better service from the few select stores I frequent.
 
Shouldn't have to remove the tensioner. Will it not release if you put a socket on it and twist counter clockwise?
 
No problem glad you got it figured out.
 
Always look on Rockauto.com if you aren't in a pinch. You can find a lot of OEM parts cheaper than the dealership. You can get an AC Delco pump along with many others. I just bough an AC Delco fuel pump for my K30 and it was $27.

Another good one is part-time.com and Amazon always amazes me. Especially if you know part numbers while searching.
 
Thanks for the tip, I'll check them out next time. I changed the pump but left the radiator and shroud out because my dad wanted to get a leak in the rad fixed while it was out. While the rad was at the shop it started raining and my dad closed the hood with the release cable unhooked, now we can't get it open. Any tricks that might help?
 
Try to shimmy up under the hood from below and unbolt the latch if accessible. You could also while in there try to release the mechanism if you can get to it, sometimes they are blocked. If you can't get to it from inside, maybe through the grille?
 
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