What turned out to be just replacing the driverside front cam seal has now turned into a "lets replace everything on the front of the engine" along with replacing those front cracked timing belt covers. The question, i am doing the water pump (after market, 16 bucks) but I did buy a OEM gasket. Is the gasket good enough or should I also use a thin bead of RTV. Please wiegh in. The engine is a 95 2.2

on an EJ - at most i'd use the tack stuff that's specifically designed for water pumps, not RTV.

I used "water pump gasket maker" in addition to the OEM gasket on my 2.5dohc. No leaks after 12000 miles.

What the store name for this stuff and can I get it at pepboys?

yep pep boys will have it, it's very common. rummage down the sealant aisle or ask, you'll see it. i would use this over RTV.

perma-tack? i might be making that up, maybe it's a permatex product and it's tacky....i can picture the freaking bottles, but the names are eluding me. like i said, very common and easy to find though.

One last seal question, should I replave the front crank seal if it is dry as a bone.... The engine has 150K on it

The EJ water pump gaskets are rubber coated metal - I wouldn't use anything on them other than a torque wrench. 5,000 on my water pump install and no leaks with the OEM gasket installed dry (per FSM).

 

The pump itself will fail long before that gasket does.

 

Front main is a good idea anytime you have the belt off - they are cheap.

 

GD

I use RTV anyway, and haven't had any issues.

the crank seal is less important than the oil plate backing screws which you should inspect. remove and thread lock and retighten any screws that are loose (almost always one or two that are). this be default makes it a good time to replace the crank seal and oil pump oring, very simple to do. EJ oil pumps are easier than EA/ER stuff.

should I thread lock everything on the front of the engine as I remove and put back on to do all the seals?

should I thread lock everything on the front of the engine as I remove and put back on to do all the seals?

no definitely not. just torque everything properly.

lock tite the oil pump backing plate screws only.

I am going to think about it today, regarding that oil pump. Everything is bone dry and I am not sure I want to spend the time pulling off that crank pulley. It seems like I could be wrestling for days with it.

I am not sure I want to spend the time pulling off that crank pulley.

you could try and see if it comes off, the EJ stuff usually doesn't give me any problems. after that you're only talking 10-20 minutes to have the oil pump as good as new.

RTV is not required on the gasket; I guess you could use it but it is not needed. I use edelbrock gasginch on stuff like that to mount the water pump gasket to the water pump before install. Makes it a lot easier than trying to keep the gasket in place while installing. gasginch is basically just rubber cement with a nastier faster drying solvent I think. There's lots of types of it at the auto parts stores.

 

Note that when torquing the water pump bolts, you start with the bolt at apprx the 2 o'clock position, then go tightening them, move to the next bolt clockwise, then go around again to reach the final torque which I think was like 7.2 ft*lb.

 

Resealing the oil pump isn't too hard if you get the crank pulley off. Sometimes the crank spocket can be tough to pull off if it got corrosion underneath it.

 

There's two types of o-rings, one for EJ22s I think which just looks like a normal o-ring, and one for EJ25's which is more like a discus looking thing.