Engine overheating, loosing coolant

[snrusnak]

Hey all. About 5-10k miles ago I replaced the timing belt (the full Gates kit) on our 2004 (or maybe 2005) aveo. Sorry...don't remember the year for sure. Anyway, I did the timing belt, water pump, idler pulley, tensioner pulley, and serp belt all at once. I used the new gasket on the water pump. I then changed trans fluid some time after (been several months). I noticed while under the car that there was water/coolant at the bottom of the crankshaft pulley. I'm assuming it's leaking water/coolant at the water pump gasket. I'm guessing the gasket surface wasn't real clean when I put the new one on (my mistake...). So I was going to just let it leak another 60k miles and keep topping it off then replace the whole kit again then. Well today my wife calls and says it's overheating when sitting still, then cools off when moving. I'm assuming it's leaked enough and is low on coolant, has air in the system, etc. It must be leaking a good bit if this is happening. What would you all do? Replace it all again? Replace just the water pump? It is a PITA to do the water pump, I really don't want to do it again...

Thanks for any advice.

[snrusnak]

I think I ought to just replace the water pump gasket and get it over with. I'm going to order the 41mm water pump wrench this time (was a PITA last time...someone said it wasn't needed, and although I got it done without it, it probably took me 1 hr + to get the adjustment correct). Will pick up a gasket for a few bucks at the auto parts store, and hopefully on saturday get it all done.

Probably just leave all the other parts as they are newish. The water/coolant won't hurt them or the bearings will it?

Can anyone recommend a good way to clean the gasket surface? It's so hard to get in there, or even see in there, with the engine in the car.

[McGrinnan]

Transgel and I thought you could use silicone on those gasket to help it seal? I would fix asap cuz that dex-cool is expensive.Ya with that tool it makes things so much easier. I bet it took me 1 hr and 20 minutes to do it from minute start to end.

[snrusnak]

What do you mean transgel? I don't use dex-cool, I use the universal stuff since I have different makes of vehicles, it's easier. I know some say it's not as good of coolant or whatever but I've used it for 5-10 years on my vehicles without problems. I do flush my cooling systems every 100k miles max unlike many people, so that's probably a good thing.

I ordered the 41mm wrench on ebay for $20. Ordered new water pump gasket from autozone for $3. Ordered new lower radiator hose from autozone for $14. I already replaced the upper hose not long ago when the plastic thermostat housing broke, replaced that too with the upgraded aluminum part from autozone for ~$50. If I have all the parts saturday I'll fix it all up. I still don't know how to clean the gasket surface...I don't want to just start squirting silicone in there. It's hard because you can't even hardly see in there. I'm thinking just clean it the best I can, then apply some vasaline to the surface and tighten it down. Maybe that'd help seal it up without drying hard? I don't know though, maybe that'd get caught in the coolant and screw something up/clog something...?

[wylee]

<snip>
Probably just leave all the other parts as they are newish. The water/coolant won't hurt them or the bearings will it?</snip>

If you think the coolant may have gotten to the idler bearing, I'd replace it.

Probably not an "approved" method, but I've used silicone sealant as a "gasket dressing" in the past when I wasn't 100% sure the fiber gasket would seal all imperfections. By "gasket dressing" I mean a VERY thin coat applied to the gasket not a "bead" applied anywhere.

Can anyone recommend a good way to clean the gasket surface? It's so hard to get in there, or even see in there, with the engine in the car.

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[snrusnak]

If the water has affected the idler then wouldn't it have also probably affected the tensioner? If the local store has the individual parts I'll replace them, I'm not going to order the whole kit again though, too much money and can't wait for it to come. Hopefully everything will work out.