86 VR Water pump rebuild?

[Bob and Mary]

I have read all the information on first generation water pumps. My 86 has a small amount of coolant that has dripped out the weep hole on the water pump. I assume it will get worse as time goes on. Bike has 84,000 or so on it. It left about a tablespoon of coolant on the floor since I rode it about a month or so ago. What are the chances of a catastrophic failure, that is similar to old automotive water pumps with graphite seals? If I do rebuild it, should I change both the mechanical seal and the oil seal while I have it apart? I think it is the mechanical seal that stops the impeller shaft from leaking. If I rebuild, I plan on new o rings on the elbow and thermostat housing.

[Marcarl]

Change it all, not a big job. For the cost you might also change the elbow, just to be safe.

[jasonm.]

the impellar will have corrosion. You MUST replace that also to accept the new seal half. You should have an OEM manual to do this because of the specs when putting the seals in. You need, oil seal & machical seal(coolant) and the impellar and gasket. There is a tool that prevents damage to the seal when putting the mechanical half seal in the case. You can carefully use a clean, smooth socket to put it in. Both halves MUST be perfectly flat, NOT tilted. Yes, change the elbow. I suggest after removing the elbow. LOOK for corrosion in the aluminum where it sits. I used #1000 paper to clean it up. Then used permatex ultra grey on the NEW o-rings to seal it up. I have seen many just leak at the elbow joint just from the corrosion. Wait day before filling with antifreeze. It's not going to leak there after. And you can still remove the waterpump in the future with brake clean as a release agent , a bit more work...but it is doable. Good luck, take your time.

[Droneh8tr]

I just did mine. Upon disassembly I found the plastic impeller to be cracked in multiple places, the mechanical seal had gunk on the carbon side AND the bearing was binding. EVERYTHING got replaced. The new impeller of course is metal, the bearing is straight forward, the oil seal is a no brainier, the mating surface for the carbon seals is easy to put in by hand. The carbon seal is another animal. Be ridiculously careful with it during install. I did install mine with a socket and a slight smear of permeated gasket maker around it. Their is a tool for this job as Jasonm says, but really who has that. I just can't stress enough how fragile that carbon seal is, be careful, control the position of the tool and insert it as straight as you can from the start and it should be ok.

[Ozlander]

Mine does that when sitting over the winter, most winters. I replaced the seals once a long time ago, didn't stop the drip.

Never drips in the summer. It didn't drip this winter until a rode it a couple of times this week.

Has to do with the cold and contraction of the metal and the seals not keeping up.