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No particular ramifications to a small leak at the weep hole, keep an eye on your coolant level in the expansion bottle and watch for fudge on the dipstick indicating coolant in the oil. The most likely reason for the seepage is a pinched o-ring while installing the pump. Even with grease on the rings it's very easy to nick a seal. Better to have a coolant leak than oil. The only way to correct the problem unfortunately is to replace the seal and try again. Look carefully at rough spots in the area that the o-ring has to slip over and into, it's not too unusual to find a little nick in the metal that will do the damage. If you find any roughness just work it down with some wet or dry paper.

 

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Last summer, with the help of the great prople on this site I also replaced my waterpump. I was very careful when reassembling the pump so I wouldn't cut the o-ring. Pump didn't leak for 2 weeks and now I have the dreaded drip. I just watch it closely and very seldom have to add coolant since the drip in minimal. So far no sign of coolant in the oil. Maybe that is what is happening to yours.

 

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It's possible you both got poor o-rings, under size diameter, perhaps some mold flashing left on them or maybe old stock that had hardened a bit. If it's just a slight seep and doesn't increase when the engine's hot and the radiator is under pressure it's not likely to do any harm. If there's no oil leaking out that means the inner seal is holding fine.

 

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I have the same problem. My bike had the water pump professionally replaced a couple of seasons ago and it has a small drip. It only seems to drip a couple drops a day. I think most of the leak was from having too much coolant in the bottle. It had been leaking steadily for a while and when I went to take my first ride of the season, I checked the level and even after a steady leak all winter, I had about a half-inch over the full mark. I took some out and the leak has slowed to it's present rate. It has gotten even slower since I have ridden it two weekends in a row. Since the only mechanical problem with the 26 year old bike is the coolant leak, I'm not going to worry about too much. The coolant is thus far staying out of the oil pan so I can deal with a slight leak.

 

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I for one am glad I left my water pump alone.

When I first got the bike (September, temps in the 70s and 80s), there was no sign of seepage. Around the end of Oct. I started noticing a drop or 2 every couple of days, and sometimes not even that. Vowing that if it got ANY worse I would replace the seals and pump, I kept an eye on it all winter, (rode her almost every day during this time), and the weeping never got worse, and my fluids stayed uncontaminated.

Now that the temps are rising again, and lo and behold, no more weepage. NONE!!!!!


Just MHO, but I think those O-rings shrink a bit when it gets cold and let a couple of drops slip by. Methinks quite a few water pump jobs get done that aren't really necessary.

 

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You are probably right revblues. The leak in my coolant system is now at about a teaspoon a week. When it gets warmer it will probably lighten up even more.

 

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Thanks for the advice Guys. Revblue, I hope your right, the temps here have been about 20f at night around here, so maybe I'll get lucky. The bike has 65,000 miles on it, and the old water pump was definitely shot. The bearing was really bad, so much so that the impeller was rubbing on the inside of the housing. i had noticed it when i did the timing belts and had the lower rad hose elbow off.