Robinhood21

1996 Honda Civic LX
So I decided to do a timing belt job and water pump on my beater upper. Everything went perfect until I found the coolant leak behind lower TB cover a week or so after finishing the job. So I took everything back out (brand new Honda pump) and used some RTV along with gasket this time.

My question is this - can I add coolant and pressurize the system to see if another leak starts or do I need to put it all back together and start the car to burp the system before I can pressurize? i hate to do a timing belt job for a 3rd time if this one doesnt work. Thanks.

Maxcapacity

If you torqued everything correctly and used rtv sealant on the gasket sparingly, it shouldn't leak. Just give it a day to set and you should be fine.

Robinhood21

One concern I have is the position of the water pump was very difficult to install without smearing some of the RTV around so obviously Im concerned of a proper seal. I just wondered if I could fill the coolant system and put some pressure to it before putting all the belts back on but I dont even know if the coolant will make it to the pump without starting the car.

JRCivic1

Hondabond (RTV) isn't required for a proper water pump installation... the O-ring should seal everything properly on it's own. Some people use RTV to "re-seal" old worn out water pump seals when trying to re-use old water pump parts. Spring for a Genuine Honda water pump... you will be glad you did.

wunfstgsr

Agreed

91redb20ef

Agree as well, I've never used RTV and the O-ring does a great job at sealing.