new water pump--use liquid gasket?

[cp[mike]]

I have way too many tubes of that shit.

no doubt, i just cleaned up my toolbox recently and i came across like 3-4 more old half-full tubes of that stuff. from rolling around under stuff they get all wrinkly and the label paint wears off, and the capped end dries up. just bend it where the dried part ends and tear the creased edge open, and keep using it lol.

7 tubes at 11.50 off ebay but it's for work since i owe them supplies and in return, i get to store the project car there

OH MY GOD WHY HAVE I NEVER THOUGHT OF THAT.


my brother used to buy chewing gum bulk on ebay.

[batever]

The thing that messed me up in the first place was, I was at the parts dept of my local honda dealer and was buying hondabond (black tube) just to have some, and I asked the guy if I should use it on my waterpump. He didn't know and asked another guy if he whether to use hondabond on a water pump (presumably a mechanic) and that guy said no! But never explained why and didn't say anything like "no you don't need hondabond--just use X". So that got me thinking, just install it without any "goop" at all. Hence my situation.

[batever]

if you go overboard, the dried silicone will clog the radiator. ive seen it show up in filters and the such.

yes, I noticed that that stuff can flake off, that's why I liked totaldoughnut's suggestion of the aviation sealant that permatex makes that doesn't flake off like that. Or "The Right Stuff" that CB7lx91 suggested. Of course, I tend to be careful so I probably wouldn't apply an overdose of RTV sealant, but using something that doesn't easily "flake" seems like a good idea to me.

[19dabeast85]

Ahhh, way too much MISINFORMATION in this thread.

ANYWHERE you EVER have a soft rubber gasket (as opposed to the paper ones) you do NOT need any other type of sealant, period.(.)

So our water pump, thermostat, coolant hose&housings, valve cover, oil pan, etc. do not need extra sealant, you're just wasting your time. Sealant won't necessarily HURT, but in no way is it required. I've never had a customer's car come back to me and always just trusted the rubber gasket!

[batever]

Ahhh, way too much MISINFORMATION in this thread.

ANYWHERE you EVER have a soft rubber gasket (as opposed to the paper ones) you do NOT need any other type of sealant, period.(.)

So our water pump, thermostat, coolant hose&housings, valve cover, oil pan, etc. do not need extra sealant, you're just wasting your time. Sealant won't necessarily HURT, but in no way is it required. I've never had a customer's car come back to me and always just trusted the rubber gasket!

\

Thanks for the input. How good does your surface prep have to be to run the rubber gasket by itself? My old water pump had clearly had some kind of sealant applied in addition to the rubber gasket (it was yellowish). I did a really good job scraping it off w/ a razor blade and the surface felt real smooth,but I don't know that I got it ALL--there might have been a very thin smooth film left in some small areas. (Then I cleaned the surface with brake cleaner on a rag, then rinsed it with H2O). I would assume that adding a sealant would help if there were surface irregularities, but I think any that I have are very very small. Again, I'm pretty meticulous.

[cp[mike]]

\

Thanks for the input. How good does your surface prep have to be to run the rubber gasket by itself? My old water pump had clearly had some kind of sealant applied in addition to the rubber gasket (it was yellowish). I did a really good job scraping it off w/ a razor blade and the surface felt real smooth,but I don't know that I got it ALL--there might have been a very thin smooth film left in some small areas. (Then I cleaned the surface with brake cleaner on a rag, then rinsed it with H2O). I would assume that adding a sealant would help if there were surface irregularities, but I think any that I have are very very small. Again, I'm pretty meticulous.

exactly... even meticulously cleaned, you know the mating surface on either side couldnt possibly seal as 100% tightly as if it had a VERY THIN layer of sealant (or "liquid gasket maker"), which VERY effectively fills in every possible gap, space, scratch, or imperfection.

granted these things are all designed to just about always mate with just a fresh rubber gasket, but i cant imagine the added precaution of careful sealant application to be any sort of waste at all, in actual application.

in a commercial setting, surface prep and proper torque will yield sufficient results, but with my own car im pretty meticulous as well, and i find the extra effort and expense to be a no-brainer...

[19dabeast85]

exactly... even meticulously cleaned, you know the mating surface on either side couldnt possibly seal as 100% tightly as if it had a VERY THIN layer of sealant (or "liquid gasket maker"), which VERY effectively fills in every possible gap, space, scratch, or imperfection.

granted these things are all designed to just about always mate with just a fresh rubber gasket, but i cant imagine the added precaution of careful sealant application to be any sort of waste at all, in actual application.

in a commercial setting, surface prep and proper torque will yield sufficient results, but with my own car im pretty meticulous as well, and i find the extra effort and expense to be a no-brainer...

If you're going back on top of a surface that has seen sealant before, and you can't very thoroughly clean the mating surface, then it's a good idea to apply a small amount of sealant as a buffer....I agree.

If you can thoroughly clean the surface with brake cleaner though (which WILL break down the old sealant) and trust your work then sealant is not needed.

If the surface has never seen sealant (like my car) then you should just be able to simply replace with a new gasket.

That being said, if you don't trust yourself on the cleaning or just simply want the extra security of sealant then go for it! For the OP though, I don't believe it's worth pulling the pump back off just to apply sealant....IMO

[batever]

Thanks, everybody, for all your input.

I have learned a lot from it and have a much better sense for what to do from hearing all the different viewpoints and different experiences of everyone who took the time to post and share their knowledge.