water pump leak after new seals...

[cobandy]

I'm pretty frustrated at the moment. I replaced the right side engine cover with a new one (2 months to get it!) and bought all new seals, bearings, etc, including new water pump seals - everything you see in the manual. Was careful to assemble correctly. Got everything back together finally today, and no oil leaks (old cover was cracked). After test ride, noticed it was dripping from the weep hole. UGH . Could I have done something wrong? Of course I could have - but are there any "gotchas" I may have overlooked? thanks

[ericr]

It could be the carbon face seal. The shop manual shows to drive in the seal against the carbon face. This could damage it. I used a 1 1/4" hole saw with the teeth ground off as a driver. This way it drives against the flange rather against the carbon seal itself. You could pull off the impeller to make sure that the flange is fully seated and to see if there is any damage to the carbon or to the white ceramic under the impeller (you can flip the ceramic over in its rubber holder).

[david]

The carbon seal face is very brittle and easy to crack.

[SS109]

Did you lube the carbon faced seal with coolant? How did you press the seal in? What I use to press the seal in is a standard white schedule 40 PVC 3/4" to 3/4" pipe coupler. It fits perfectly inside the cover, clears the carbon faced seal, and is dirt cheap at under $1! https://www.homedepot.com/p/DURA-3-4-in ... 342644-_-N

Actual dimensions of coupler are...

1.04" inner/1.31" outer diameters and about 2" long
- or, for our metric brothers and sisters -
26.65mm inner/33.44mm outer diameters and 53.44mm long

[pumpguy]

+1 to all of the above. As a pump repair guy, I have changed literally thousands of this type of seal over several decades.

I really take issue with the manual's directions to press the seal in place by pressing directly on the carbon face. The directions posted above using a sleeve to push against the metal cup surrounding the carbon is the proper way to do it.

Also, lubricating the carbon / ceramic faces @ installation is recommended. Lately I have been using a slight smear of silicone plumber's grease that you can get at most hardware stores. Other silicone based lubricants would probably work just a well.

What you're wanting to accomplish is provide some lubricant @ start up. You don't want these faces running dry. After start up, the coolant itself lubricates these faces.

Something else to pay attention to is the carbon and ceramic faces must be parallel and in uniform contact. If either of these elements are cocked, the spring pressure won't be uniform, and at best, the wear will be uneven, but usually this results in a leaking seal.

[cobandy]

thanks everyone for the tips and advice. I haven't had time to work on the bike since I discovered the leak, but will get to it soon and report back. Perhaps I didn't install the carbon seal correctly - I used a socket and it seemed pretty flush in there, but who knows. The white ceramic thing just pushed into the impeller easily. I'm pretty sure I didn't lube it with anything, which could also be the problem. (no, I don't have a shop manual...my bad..)

[cobandy]

Looks like the problem was indeed the carbon piece - it was cracked. Luckily the old part was still in the trash bin and it was in pretty decent shape. Popped it on, lubed up with silicon - it's all good now! thanks again everyone!

[KDXGarage]

Heck yeah. Glad it worked out. Thanks for those who shared their experience. Maybe it will help the next guy.

[SS109]

Good to hear it was a simple fix.

[Garnyekdx]

Where does one find this carbon face seal. I am leaking coolant out of the week/ tell tail hole when the bike is just sitting. Replaced the water pump cover seal and it still leaks. Nut on impeller is tight also. Please help!!!

[bufftester]

It is part of the mechanical seal for the water pump, Kawi p/n 49063-1055. Also not a bad idea while in there to check the water pump bearing and oil seal

[knottyrope]

when i did my 200, i replaced seals and the impeller shaft

I used Vaseline on the seals since thats what we used on all the water pumps i used to work on