322 nailhead water leak

[1956 Buick]

All,

I've been working on getting this motor drivable so I can take it in for inspection for registration however, I keep having water leak problems.

So far I've had a new radiator installed, new t-stat, and new water pump gasket and now it seems as if water is leaking out the harmonic balancer. Is this possible if water is leaking from inside a water pump bolt into the timing chain area?

Maybe the block has a crack in it. Anyone know of a way to test to see were the leak is coming from?

thanks

[avgwarhawk]

The best way that I have used is a radiator pressure test kit. It creates pressure via a hand pump by using a cap like the radiator cap attached to the hose and pump(with gauge). As the system pressurizes a leak will start in any area a leak is present. Your local auto parts store probably rents the radiator pressure test kits for a small fee.

[Leif Holmberg]

Are you sure you have a 1956 gasket on the water pump,1955 is a little bit shoter with the lowest water channel.
Leif in Sweden

[old-tank]

There are water passages in the timing cover. Every bolt that goes into a nailhead should have sealer on the threads, since most go into a water or oil cavity.
Willie

[JohnD1956]

I noticed you said you put on a new water pump gasket. You did not mention a new water pump. Are you sure the front seal on the water pump is holding?

One test is to see if you can shake the engine fan blade. With a good bearing you would not have any free movement when trying to rock a fan blade back and forth. Obviously you do not rock the blade so hard as to bend it. Just gently push and pull on it , towards the engine and back towards the radiator. If you feel any give then chances are the water pump bearing and seal are compromised and the pump is leaking out of the weep hole in the casing under the fan blade pulley, and dropping onto the harmonic balancer.

BTW, I would think that if you truly had antifreeze leaking from the area of the harmonic balance due to an crack in the casing or the engine block, then you would also find antifreeze on the oil dip stick.

[1956 Buick]

All-

Thanks for your impute. This helps as I believe to have found the root cause.

Originally I only replaced the water pump gasket since I was chasing an overheating problem and didn’t have a water leak at that time. I removed the water pump thinking the impeller may have not been spinning to move water though the cooling system.
After replacing the radiator the overheating problem was solved and the water leak started.

JohnD1956 mentioned "shake the engine fan blade"

Although there wasn't significant movement, there was some very minor movement. Enough to cause a few drips to come out the weep hole in the front of the pump. I'll assume the seal in the front of the pump is compromised. Since the front of my block / water pump is all freshly repainted along with the clean water in the cooling system this why I likely couldn’t see this leak while the car was running, even with a mirror.
Using my small mirror to see the weep hole, I repeated this shaking process several more times and seen the same end result with several drips.
I’m ordering a new pump today and I’ll be sure to seal all the bolt thread when installing the new pump. I’ll keep you posted.

[Leif Holmberg]

Be sure you got a 1956 pump becuse 1955 and earlier don`t fit.
Many shops sell the pumps as 1953-1956.
Leif in Sweden