I have been chasing an evasive coolant leak. I thought I had found the culprit, the hose connection from the coolant tube that runs under the car on the drivers side, close to the oil pan. So up in the air the car goes and nope, the dripping is coming from above the connection dripping onto it.........hmmmm, must be the water pump. So, out come the seats, firewall and bulk head cover. I CAREFULLY start the car and observer the pump, no visible leaks. I shut the car off and sure enough there is a small steady stream of coolant dripping down onto the previously mentioned drivers side coolant hose. It seems to be leaking from behind the harmonic balancer, is there a freeze plug or coolant plug behind the balancer that could cause this? Or is it a water pump backing plate leak that can not be seen without pulling the balancer?

Any and all tips would be of help, Ron

there's no freeze plug back there Ron. The timing cover is just a flat plate of steel covering the cavity where the timing chain resides.

The "snout" of the coolant pump has a weep hole in the bottom that you can't readily see because of the concave shape of the water pump pulley. Coolant may be leaking out of that weep hole, down along the snout of the pump, down the timing cover, onto the harmonic balancer.

Its either that, or theres a gasket leak between the pump and the timing cover.

take care, George

Hi,
I had a similar problem, after worrying for days that the motor coming out, I accidently found the leak from the heater hose connection on the block. The pipe had a rust hole.
Hope this helps Good luck!

some pic's

another angle, the plug is were most relocate the temp sending unit to. The square holes are for the water pump, the nipple on top is what rot's out & finally the round hole?

Mark

The round hole is the coolant recirc passage to the water pump suction.