2 timing belt jobs in 1 weekend, or Use RTV sealant on the water pump gasket

[Sagaris]

Thursday 6:00 PM, The e30 goes up on jack stands and the battery is disconnected. My first timing belt change on an e30 begins.

Friday 1:00 AM, The e30 is filled with coolant and fired up. Luckily the valves and pistons didn't intermingle and it ran on its own power.
Then I checked for leaks.:x

The blasted water pump gasket had failed me!!!!
I blame myself for not using RTV sealant

I went to bed pissed off and smelling like orange hand cleaner.
--
Friday 6:00 AM, ROUND 2 I strip everything back down to the water pump step in an hour ( much faster than before) and order the new water pump gasket.

The new gasket came in this morning and I threw everything together pretty quickly WITH RTV SEALANT ON THE GASKET and took my time bleeding the cooling system and driving around the neighborhood with no hood on. I got some nice stares. And I dont think it was because they like e30's. Overall it was actually a pretty easy task, there were just a lot of things to remove.

LESSON LEARNED: USE RTV SEALANT ON THE WATER PUMP GASKET!

I also found it easier to attach the cooling fan, place the fan shroud around it , THEN install the radiator. Rather than installing the radiator, fan shroud then cooling fan ( it is hard to get the threads started with that limited space).

Just thought I would share that bit of information for those of you who might be tempted to do this job without the RTV.

[StereoInstaller1]

I never use RTV on ANYTHING M20 related: I do use spray glue to hold the gasket in place though.

[KenC]

Spray glue is a good idea.

I always use rtv in addition to the gasket when dealing with coolant junctions.

[NeoMishMoo]

I've always heard not to use anything but the gasket. If the gasket is new it should be leak free. Installing a new water pump in a couple days and now I'm worried. I definitely don't want to do that twice.

[Sagaris]

I was under the same impression that nothing was needed other than clean mating surfaces and the gasket itself. It just didnt work that way for me. I even made sure that I gradually and evenly torqued the 3 mounting bolts. I dont want to sound like a forum-know-it-all but s far as I am concerned there is nothing to worry about if you use the gray RTV that is coolant resistant (water pump and thermostat housing RTV). As long as you just use a thin line that doesnt get squished into the opening of the block.

[jmr302]

I was under the same impression that nothing was needed other than clean mating surfaces and the gasket itself. It just didnt work that way for me. I even made sure that I gradually and evenly torqued the 3 mounting bolts. I dont want to sound like a forum-know-it-all but s far as I am concerned there is nothing to worry about if you use the gray RTV that is coolant resistant (water pump and thermostat housing RTV). As long as you just use a thin line that doesnt get squished into the opening of the block.

I've worked on a variety brands for several years. A bare paper gasket is a good theory and may even work every now and then, but a thin coating of RTV has worked for me every time. I don't make a bead--I smear it on with my fingers so the entire gasket has a very thin uniform coat.

I like to get Permatex 'Right Stuff', which is a new generation of RTV. It has a much shorter curing time. Assemble and go. No, I don't sell the stuff or work for Permatex.

[Mossman]

I use the indian head shellack stuff then I spread it on some toast and wash it down with a schlitz gay after a job well done

[Spaz]

I've worked on a variety brands for several years. A bare paper gasket is a good theory and may even work every now and then, but a thin coating of RTV has worked for me every time. I don't make a bead--I smear it on with my fingers so the entire gasket has a very thin uniform coat.

I like to get Permatex 'Right Stuff', which is a new generation of RTV. It has a much shorter curing time. Assemble and go. No, I don't sell the stuff or work for Permatex.

"The right stuff" is amazing RTV its what i've used on chev 350's with the common intake valley leaks and honda oil pans as well. I'll never use anything else now.

[nando]

i've always used a small bit of RTV on the WP gasket and never had a leak yet!

[thereisnoyun]

i've always used a small bit of RTV on the WP gasket and never had a leak yet!

I've just use the paper gasket provided and I've never had a leak, done it about 5 or 6 times already on different cars.

[thatphysicsguy]

Well I ran into this problem this weekend and I'm so pissed that I have to re-excavate the engine bay just to fix the damn gasket. Better safe than sorry will be my policy from here on out.

So n00b question also: do I let the thin layer of RTV dry before installing? or do I install it while curing?

[CabbE30]

Well I ran into this problem this weekend and I'm so pissed that I have to re-excavate the engine bay just to fix the damn gasket. Better safe than sorry will be my policy from here on out.

So n00b question also: do I let the thin layer of RTV dry before installing? or do I install it while curing?

Holy thread resurrection.... I always install while curing, thats what has worked for me.

[thatphysicsguy]

Holy thread resurrection.... I always install while curing, thats what has worked for me.

Google is a powerful tool and I didn't want to gum up my project thread with silly questions like this.

But gosh is it frustrating
:cockbloc: by the damn water pump...

[funcrew]

Coolant system RTV - just a shmear.

[kronus]

I typically use silicon gasket compound in addition to the paper gasket on coolant system stuff, it's like RTV but electric blue and therefore awesome.