Damn, I smell antifreeze.

[Aquavet]

Ran my son over to cr south for school today and whem I got back.......
OOOH that smell, can't ya smell that smell
The front of the engine is a tiny bit damp. I'll assume a water pump.
Rats!!!...how much for the parts and can I do it myself? last one I bolted up was on an early 80's chevy 6 banger p/u truck with lots of room under the hood and its been a while....

[Polo96]

Make sure you check this out asap. If it is the water pump - the opti is in danger. If you find out you do need a new water pump you might want to get a new opti while you are in there and update it to a 95-96 as it is vented.

Good luck.

Ron - Polo96

[DanS711]

You can do it youself it is just a little more involved than an old Chevy water pump. If you don't have a manual go to the C-4 section on Corvette Forum and look along the top header for "other" then "tech tips" then "C4" then look for water pump. They have some very detailed instructions from guys who have done it. Like Polo 96 noted you may want to change the Opti Spark also as the antifreeze tends to do them in. You can find instructions for that in the same place.
Bryner should be able to get you a good price on the parts with your CCDV discount.

Dan

[92RAGTOP]

Ron is absolutely right about replacing the opti-spark. It's directly below the pump and will go belly up on you if it gets too wet. Maybe you'll leck out and it's only a hose. What year & how many miles?

[Aquavet]

Ron is absolutely right about replacing the opti-spark. It's directly below the pump and will go belly up on you if it gets too wet. Maybe you'll leck out and it's only a hose. What year & how many miles?

'94 a4 and 53k miles.
I was just hoping this won't run me a grand......my wife hates the car as it is. and I've only put 200 miles on it since I got it....just hoping...


Now its throwing a code and acting wierd. Service asr light comes on and it won't shift. I checked the trans fluid and it seemed fine. topped it up anyway and went for a road test. Shifted fine.got back home, same thing, service asr light and effed up shifts. I'm lost. whats asr got to do with shifting?!

[92RAGTOP]

Are you sure it isn't shifting? I got my Opti-Spark wet last summer, my own fault. It sputtered, backfired, ran rough it felt as if the timing belt had jumped. I let it sit in a hot garage for a few days and it's been perfect ever since. The ASR ???? Damn I hate to hear about all these problems your having Alan.
If all these problems started the same time you began to smell anti freeze I would suspect they may be related somehow. I'm not a big believer in coincidence.
Check this CV posting http://forums.corvetteforum.com/showthread.php?goto=lastpost&t=1544893

[DanS711]

If the opti is getting wet from the coolant it could be misfiring and not making enough power to shift properly. You could try the blow dryer or warm garage but if the water pump is leaking on the opti you wil be right back where you started as soon as you fire it up. Did you check to make sure it is not a hose leaking rather than the water pump? The LT1's have a lot of small hoses on them. If in fact the water pump is leaking I would figure on replacing the opti while you are in there. As I noted above it is not too hard, just takes some time and patience. Jack the front up and take the front wheels off so you can stand right in there. If you don't change the opti and it is bad you will have to take the water pump back off to get to it.

DS

[PeteB]

There is a small hose that connects the throttle body coolant connection to the head steam vent tube that has a very hard 90 deg bend. It is only about 2" long and usually fails at the bend.
Might be worth a look, especially if you can see the coolant.