Rep Power: 0

A civic I bought on Sunday (actually really well kept with all records) is leaking coolant. The leak is from the driver side, and apears to be from the bottom as I cannot see any coolant from above, only when i get under the thing. I cannot locate an exact source but from what I can tell (new to civics) it apears to be leaking from the water pump.

Going forward on this assumption, I intend to replace the water pump, except I learned that this water pump is driven by the timing belt, which makes this project a little more difficult.

Any advice?

 
Rep Power: 204

If it's leaking out the bleed holes then its probably time for a new water pump.

 
Rep Power: 0

The water pump is not really my concern. I am not affraid of the water pump job or cost... I have done many of those, its the timing belt part I am worried about. I have never done a timing belt (or a water pump which required me to remove the timing belt).

I am worried that when I put it together, i will have done it wrong and wrecked my motor.

 
Rep Power: 204

oh, just make sure you align your camshaft and crankshaft to TDC before you take it off. Then be careful not to move them while your working on it.

 
Rep Power: 0

So, from what I can tell (learning here), I have to remove the head cover, the alternator, ac belt...

It also looks like I wont even be able to SEE the water pump to diagnose the problem without removing the top and bottom timing cover... is this correct?

 
Rep Power: 0

How many miles are on the car? It may be a good idea to go ahead and change the timing belt while you have it off if you dont have a good record of its last change vs the headach of it breaking on you. If you want to get a ballpark idea about leakage top the coolant off when the motor is cold, "burp" or purge the system to assure highest possible pressure, then take it for a drive making sure to get it good and hot. Dont drive too long as we want it to still be leaking good when you stop. Park somewhere you can easily see under the as soon as you stop, I have a set of 30 autozone ramps I like to use for such a job. get a flashlight and get on your back. If you see water dripping from between the plastic and metal on the front (accesory side) of your motor its a water pump. As for not messing anything up just make sure after you pull the top timing cover off that the cam gear mark is striaght up and stays that way when the belt comes off, the crank is less likely to move provided you take the harmonic balancer off before the timing belt. once everything goes back together its always a good idea to manualy turn the bottom end over with a ratchet and socket to assure nothing binds and the marks still line up and the tension is still how you want it.

 
Rep Power: 0

just saw how old this was, that will teach me for using the search function when i should be sleeping lol

 
Rep Power: 169

don't worry it's still good advice, I may have a faulty water pump. Even though it was replaced along with the timing belt 6000 miles ago by a mechanic, but if its the water pump, I'm gonna do it myself and I found the info about removing the harmonic balancer to be useful.