I'm doing the waterpump in an '01 Grand Prix for a friend of mine. After thinking back to my 90 SSE, I'm curious if the design is similar. When replacing with a new gasket, is it necessary to pack around the heads of all the mounting bolts with RTV? If so, is it also recommended to put rtv on both sides of the gasket surface? I remember doing this on my 90 SSE and it leaked like a siv if you didn't put rtv everywhere.

Thanks

Mike

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68 Chrysler 300 Convertible
68 Ford Mustang
90 Pontiac Bonneville SSE
98 GMC Yukon SLT
08 Mercury Milan Premier

Found out from having 3 different gens of this motor, that the water pump design has not changed except for one thing and that is the hub the pulley mounts to. To use a 3800 or series 1 water pump on a series 2, you need a series 1 pulley. The series 1 water pumps usually have the cast impeller.

I recommend finding a cast impeller verses the stamped one found in most series 2.

As far as sealant, it is important to use it on the threads of the 4 larger bolts. These go through the timing cover and into the water jacket and you want the threads to seal so you have no coolant leaking into the timing cover and thus into the oil pan. The 4 smaller bolts are fine going in without sealant since they do not penetrate the water cavities.

I recommend using the paper gasket and using a LIGHT layer of sealant on each side.

Thanks, happy holidays.

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68 Chrysler 300 Convertible
68 Ford Mustang
90 Pontiac Bonneville SSE
98 GMC Yukon SLT
08 Mercury Milan Premier