leaking coolant from water pump area

[motownbrowne]

First off, my mx4700 has been an incredible machine so far. Amazing how much more capable it is than our 8ns!

Today I went to fire it up after 2 hours on the block heater of course. Noticed some coolant in the snow under the front axle. I checked the hoses, no leaks.

Upon closer inspection, there's coolant leaking from the front of what I'd call the water pump housing. Not from the pump shaft itself, not even from the seal between what I'm (perhaps incorrectly) calling the housing there's several bolts that go into the block and one nut that looks to be threaded onto a stud protruding from the block. The coolant seems to be slowly leaking from the one nut on the stud.

Any ideas? Try tightening it up? Call the dealer? I'm still under warranty, but this seems like it might be a super simple fix.

Thanks in advance for the help.

 

[AStanton]

I experienced a leak on a straight-6 1967 Olds--my first car. There was a valve at the bottom of the water pump where anti-freeze was leaking from. Sounds to me like the pump has to be pulled and the gasket resealed. And if you have over 1,000 hours on the tractor, you probably should replace the pump while you are at it.
Good luck.

 

[motownbrowne]

Actually just under 100 hours on the machine. Like I said earlier, the seal doesn't seem to be leaking, the coolant seems to be coming from around one of the fasteners. Any suggestions? Tighten it up, or call the guys at the dealership and see what they say?

 

[texasjohn]

It sounds unusual and a very rare failure. I'm assuming you have fully verified that the leak is from the immediate area of the bolt...not running down from somewhere higher. Since it is still in warranty, I'd let the dealer handle it. If you just tighten things up and a problem occurs later you might not notice and a larger problem could arise. It should not be leaking..this isn't like a lug nut that should be checked for torque after a few hours of initial operation. If the gasket is bad, it should be replaced.

 

[AStanton]

With only 100 hours, I too would vote for contacting the dealer. It wouldn't take much torqueing to strip one of the bolts retaining the pump housing. I'm thinking that someone was a little stingy in applying gasket cement at the factory. Either that or they tore the gasket before assembly.
I would make sure that the dealer doesn't try and fix the situation by simply laying a bead of silicon around the effected area. Inspect the area before and after his work.

 

[skyhook]

Here is what the inside of your pump looks like....
Could be the seal in the pump leaking.

 

[motownbrowne]

Here is what the inside of your pump looks like....
Could be the seal in the pump leaking.

Thanks for the photo! That definitely helps. I'll check it out further when I get home from breakfast, but I think it is leaking from the smaller hole between the two "chambers" on the housing.

Thanks for the advice everyone. I was kinda thinking that calling the dealer might be the way to go, but wanted to make sure that it wasn't something people had encountered before.

 

[art]

The fan often moves anti-freeze with a leak so it can be deceiving as to where the leak may be from.

 

[tomcat7359]

At first I thought it might be coming from the 'weep' hole in the front part of pump area, where the shaft in located. I agree with previous posters, under warranty, take it to the dealer. Part of the deal when you bought a new tractor,, let them fix it.

 

[motownbrowne]

Checked it out again today. It's coming from one of the fasteners on the perimeter of the housing, or at least that's where I saw it yesterday. No sign of any coolant on the frame, front axle, snow, or water pump, which is where it was yesterday. Guess I'll keep a close eye on it over the next couple weeks and schedule a service if need be. Thanks for the assistance.