Sprinter Pump problem.. But which one?

[PeterInSa]

Spoke to a fellow Sprinter owner recently and he mentioned he found fluid on the bottom of his sump once or twice in the last month he followed up with his mechanic and was told it could be possibly one or two things. His water pump is on the way out and when its failing a tell tale of coolant comes out and can get on the sump, or it could be Diesel from the high pressure pump, because he is now Touring in cold? Tassie and he and his Sprinter are from the mainland.(failure more evident in cold weather) And of course Diesel can be confirmed by the smell test.

I did a search on replaceing either of these pumps on this site and they are not 5 minutes job for a beginner. So hopefully he will get home before any problems occurr.

And while I am down here I will look under our vehicle for any fluid as well.

Peter

[Altered Sprinter]

Peter don';t be confused from condensation over night the same puddle can form under the radiator.
Simple test taste it it the clear water look substance is sweet it's just plain old H20
If it's fluid,coolant !!!! trust me you will know, it's not plain water.
Richard

[PeterInSa]

What I am interested in finding out is:
If the water pump is failing eg. the bearing, how does the water pump release a tell tale water trail and if so from where?

If the High Pressure Pump is failing, Why does it release some Diesel when the pump is cold and none when the pump warms up? and from where?

Peter

[Altered Sprinter]

What I am interested in finding out is:
If the water pump is failing eg. the bearing, how does the water pump release a tell tale water trail and if so from where?

If the High Pressure Pump is failing, Why does it release some Diesel when the pump is cold and none when the pump warms up? and from where?

Peter
Peter I'm working on the van at the moment, I'll have a good stickybeak to find the waek spots.
However you would hear a seized bearing squeal like a pig temp gueage will go way over 80 C
and water will blow back out through the radiator pump reserve outlet. apart from hearing the boiling water as if it was a jug in full bubble mode.
So what temps do you have above normal and how much water us being lost..
Richard

[Altered Sprinter]

Peter exactly where is the leak coming from.Richard

[PeterInSa]

Richard, am just repeating a discussion I had with a fellow Sprinter owner in Tassie, am now back home in Adelaide. His mechanic passed on these comments to him,( ie I do not know if they are true) and I am interested to know the answers in case the problem ever happens to our Sprinter.

Peter

[Altered Sprinter]

Peter: If there was a leak coming from the actual water pump, with a torch you would see if the seal was breached, via tell tale stain mark with a wet surface.
If a bearing let go! Or the impeller was starting to and or seized, you'd hear it. And the overflow pipe from the fill-up reserve tank, would be dripping fluid down the right hand side of the inner radiator frame.

There are quite a few connections under the radiator that may need re-torquing if a drip was coming from the cooler???
However again the radiator would be boiling and if you did not, or could not hear it. Your temp gauge would go to the absolute maximum.

It is also a possible cause for water to run under the sump, from the bottom left hand radiator hose nearest to your main filter box.[Check tightness of clamps and the hose condition ,if the hose weak any where along the length of the hose, it will be very soft,instead of firm.]

Another possibility; rare but it can happen, is on the right hand side of the block there are a series of welsh plugs. these can be effected by corrosion from a non certified coolant or simply put none in the water radiator system at all:or the coolant has passed it's use-by life span.
I have one rubber hose at the back of the right hand side of the engine that's a drip hose! will look tomorrow as to what or where it leads back to.

My suggestion if your friend is in doubt,then get him to do a radiator pressure test , such as a unit like mine.
22636
Is any of the above of help to you.
Richard

[PeterInSa]

Richard,
Do a search on High Pressure Pump Removal and checkout a write up by Jackbombay, its a good read especially if your Sprinter is visting a cold climate.

Peter

[Altered Sprinter]

Thanks Peter Hobart's not cold,as such.But the lakes are in Winter, even the temp gauge stays at zero."All Day Long":eek:
Richard

[Scott_Mc]

............he followed up with his mechanic and was told it could be possibly one or two things....
Peter, if your friends mechanic can't tell the difference between a coolant leak and a Diesel leak, well.....I think it's time to find a new mechanic:smilewink:

[PeterInSa]

Scott,
The mechanic was 2000+Kms away and owner was advised to do the t..../smell test to determine the source of the fluid.

Peter

[Altered Sprinter]

Your mate lucky Peter; I was 5000K from the nearest dealer:eek:
Richard

[Oldfartt]

Hi peterinsa

If the water pump is failing/leaking and there are no obvious audible sounds, then the first thing that should happen is the "Check Engine" light should come up. This triggered by the sensor on the side of the header tank. The first indication is is the light coming on briefly when turning sharply or accelerating quickly as the water slops around in the tank. If the leak is very slow then it may be difficult to detect as the fluid can evaporate before being seen. Richard,s tester is ideal for finding leaks which are quickly depleting the fluid. I built my own tester as I was not able to keep the borrowed one like Richard,s for long enough. Instead of the hand pump, I connected the hose to my air compressor and set the pressure to a constant 10psi (Max 15psi). After about an hour there was a "wet spot" directly under the water pump and fan,dripping off the engine sump. Green colour. The front seal had failed. New pump fitted. But that is another story!
Cheers

Ross

[Altered Sprinter]

Hi peterinsa

If the water pump is failing/leaking and there are no obvious audible sounds, then the first thing that should happen is the "Check Engine" light should come up. This triggered by the sensor on the side of the header tank. The first indication is is the light coming on briefly when turning sharply or accelerating quickly as the water slops around in the tank. If the leak is very slow then it may be difficult to detect as the fluid can evaporate before being seen. Richard,s tester is ideal for finding leaks which are quickly depleting the fluid. I built my own tester as I was not able to keep the borrowed one like Richard,s for long enough. Instead of the hand pump, I connected the hose to my air compressor and set the pressure to a constant 10psi (Max 15psi). After about an hour there was a "wet spot" directly under the water pump and fan,dripping off the engine sump. Green colour. The front seal had failed. New pump fitted. But that is another story!
Cheers

Ross
You built one:clapping: clever little Kiwi:bow:
Any pics Pics for amusement :drool:
Richard

[Oldfartt]

Not a pretty sight but it works. Made out out of bits and pieces around the place. I may also use it to do bleeding the brakes.:hmmm:

Cheers

Ross

[PeterInSa]

Hi Oldfartt,
You mentioned Sloshing Water, Going from Tassie to the mainland (across the ditch as the tasweigians call it) left the light on in the bathroom with door open to use as a night light, until the 4m swellwith waves on top caused water in the loo sloshing from side to side of the bowl (bloody loud) made me shut the door to the bathroom and the cabin in complete darkness. Put me off Ocean cruises I can tell you.

Doing a search earlier on came acrosss a forum member who made special tools to remove his water pump and he from memory, suggested that every Sprinter owner should invest in these tools. Did you make your own tools for your water pump replacement?

I understand that unlike a Landcruier you need these special tools to replace a water pump.

Peter

[Oldfartt]

Hi PeterinSA.

Yea I know what you mean about those cabins. The inside ones are pitch black at night. Was there in 2005.
Yes I did make a tool to hold the fan pulley. It needs to be no thicker than 2.2mm as otherwise it cannot fit between the pulley and the chain case. I tend to use whatever is around and do as little as is necessary to make it. So it looks a bit crude. But then I don't intend to use it too often! It is modeled on the MB special part.

Instead of the hex key welded to a handle (Good idea. Wish I had thought of that!) I have a set of allen key sockets that fit on a 3/8 handle. It can also be torqued up to 45nm with this tool.

Another issue is the five 6mm bolts that hold the coolant pump to the chain casing. The chain casing holes are not threaded at the factory and the bolts are self threading. When they are undone, some of the thread is removed with the bolts. This may mean that when the new pump is fitted you cannot tighten the 6mm bolts up to the required 14nm torque. In my van,three of the 5 stripped.

So.... I replaced all 5 threads using stainless helicoils, a time consuming but straight forward job. The four 8mm bolts go into the engine block and are no problem to torque up to 20nm.

To get at the fan pulley, remove the black bonnet catch bar and the clips holding the radiator cowling and then spring the whole radiator assembly forward held out with a block of wood.


Cheers

Ross