89 Town car loosing coolent, at witts end.

[jaywish]

Right front corner under the bat.

[miamibob]

Never looked for it on my '87 GM. Is it accessed from under the car? What is the best way to get to it??

[sly]

as for the vent controls... follow the line from the soup can behind the engine... that needs to be good as well as the lines that go to the check valve that feeds the soup can. that check valve needs to be good too. Might be time to change out all the vacuum lines. I've had to do that on my cars already.

[over2tonsofFun]

Well That might be an idea to change the vacuum lines. It is over 10 years old.

Tim

[Bigbullitt]

I started leaking coolant today as well. Looks like it is the water pump. Car runs cool (needle at the "o" in "normal",) up till 60 mph. At that point, the needle goes up to "r" or "m." At 70, it's at the "a."

I'm assuming the shroud, radiator and belt comes off to get to it. Anything I need to be careful of or do extra? I did it on my 89, but that was back in 97, so I've forgotten.

[86VickyLX]

I started leaking coolant today as well. Looks like it is the water pump. Car runs cool (needle at the "o" in "normal",) up till 60 mph. At that point, the needle goes up to "r" or "m." At 70, it's at the "a."

I'm assuming the shroud, radiator and belt comes off to get to it. Anything I need to be careful of or do extra? I did it on my 89, but that was back in 97, so I've forgotten.

Replacing a water pump?

Alternator, power steering and related brackets, ac brackets that attach to the water pump. Fan shroud, fan and pulley. No need to pull radiator. Keep in mind where each bolt went in the water pump. Length varies and such. If you take it a few steps further, I'd do the timing cover gasket and timing kit as well.

[jaywish]

I use the new wp to hold the bolts in the correct positions as they are removed. Swap bolts into old pump when it is out.

[Bigbullitt]

Thanks. I'm going to start on it tonight. I like the idea of putting the bolts in the new wp as I take them out. I was going to make a template on paper with the pump holes and just put them in the corresponding location.

[sly]

if you're working on an aero or early whale, you'll need a special tool to get the fan off the pump. Later whales are e-fan equipped so meh.

you may also need a new fan clutch.

[jaywish]

Good idea to check the clutch before you take it apart. If the motor is hot and running, have someone turn off the engine while looking at the spinning fan blade. If the fan blade spins around more than once when the motor stops it is shot.

[Bigbullitt]

Fan clutch was good. However, this was a CHORE! I got everything apart (pulled the radiator so I could thoroughly flush it.) The top bolt of the thermostat housing broke off at the head. The other one was extremely tight and I needed a breaker bar to get it completely out. In the process, I kept hitting the ignition control module on the distributor and after 22 years of heat, it pretty much just dissintegrated. Got everything back in, filled it with water, and it started leaking immediately at the same location (dripping from the lower pulley area.) It seems to be tapering off, so I'm hoping it will just be a seating issue. I replaced all the hoses and even had the bypass hose I bought for my 89 some 15 years ago that I never installed.

[jaywish]

If it leaking something is still wrong. Could the cover be bad?

[gadget73]

something didn't go together right if its leaking still. The thermostat being out of place is very very common.

[sly]

the waterpump gasket does need sealer on it (a small bead around).

[Bigbullitt]

I did all of the above. Car stopped leaking after about 50 miles of driving (yes, it still has coolant in it.)

On another note, whoever designed the ignition control module mount needs to be shot. You need a special 6mm nut driver (or standard equivalent) tool to get the bolts out. Why they couldn't have used phillips screws, I don't know. The hole is too small to get a regular socket in there.