I did a modification others have no doubt done as well. I replaced the "#12" water pump bolt with a stud. Now the timing cover is always clamped down. I added a washer and a 0.1mm shim on top of the nut to add support behind this 'vunerable to breakage' part of the water pump. Will it prevent breakage? Probably not if you over torque this nut too much. It might provide just that little more strength so 23 ft lbs isn't too much.

I like the permanent clamping feature of the mod. At least I won't have to worry about using that fiddly clamp any more. I'll probably trim the stud length just a bit. It doesn't need to be this long. I started with a 90mm stud as I knew it would need to be custom fitted.



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Stanton
'88 Formula, red on gray

[This message has been edited by oneinch (edited 03-15-2021).]

This is smart, i feel like it should be like this from factory. When I was replacing the water pump on my car, I torqued the bolt there to spec. As you would probably expect, i broke off a piece of the water pump. Right now the bolt is finger tight but if i ever pull it off again i will use this idea.

Is the 88 V6 water pump mount different? I don't remember ever encountering this issue of an unsupported water pump section.

The picture I posted is an '88 V6. Here's another picture installing the stud and showing the void in the timing case I filled.

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Stanton
'88 Formula, red on gray

It didn't dawn on me until you posted that second picture that we were looking at a brand-new timing cover. Because it was clean and new, at first I assumed it was a water pump!

I think people have done this mod here before, but I don't think they used the washer there to bring it up flush with the mating surface. That is clever!

I assume that outermost nut comes off before you attach the water pump?

Not a new cover. Just the OEM cleaned up and painted. Yes, in the first pic the outer nut is just there to hold the washers in place to check for flatness. It comes off, water pump goes on, nut goes back on.

You could put the washers under the first nut. This would probably be fine. This nut doesn't have as much surface area as the washer to support the water pump. This is why I chose nut first, washers second. It's not perfectly flat. It never will be. Every little thing would need to square and/or parallel to one another to make it perfectly flat. This isn't the case. You just do the best you can.

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Stanton
'88 Formula, red on gray

I thought that my spacer was a neat modification... now not so neat. I shoulda thunk a little harder.

Loike it.

Interesting. I've never broken one (done 3 times on 2 V6's) and I have a habit of overtightening bolts.

Think of this mod as insurance, not a cure.

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Stanton
'88 Formula, red on gray

I like the idea, I was just saying I didn't even know this was a problem. Thanks for posting it.