Originally posted by MasterYota:
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Yes... coolant coming down the front of the engine means a bad water pump (or bad head gasket, but we won't go there).
The water pump has a seal which keeps coolant from getting to the bearing on it's shaft. In front of the bearing, the engineers put "weep holes" into the housing, so that when coolant gets past the seal, and all the way through the bearing, it comes out those holes to notify you of the problem.
If you look on the water pump, you should see two holes on either side of the shaft the fan mounts to, which are slowly leaking coolant. This means you have a problem which is as easy to fix as replacing a water pump.
You need to have a metric socket set and DEFINITELY a metric wrench set - since there are some bolts you can't fit a socket onto.
I would plan on replacing the belts while you're in there, since you have to take them off anyway. Each belt has a little tensioner pulley in it's loop that you can loosen with a 12MM wrench enough to snake the belt off. You simply loosen those two pulleys, remove the belts, unbolt the fan & clutch from the water pump's shaft, and then remove the old pump, prepare the gasket or silicone form-a-gasket (I used both) and bolt on the new pump and belts.
You should need:
- 10 & 12mm wrenches/sockets
- Gasket (high-temp RTV or factory syle)
- Belts
- Coolant & Distilled water
Be sure to drain the coolant from the radiator before starting - and use distilled water to fill her back up. It's under a dollar a gallon at the grocery store, and all the minerals have been boiled out so they won't deposit themselves in your radiator.</font></STRONG>
