The archives say that a dripping water pump weep hole is a potential early
sign of head gasket or other head problems causing excessive pressure in
the cooling system.  My saga is a bit of a twist.  I replaced the heads on
my '90 Carat with 125K miles with rebuilt AMC's including new valves,
guides, seals, and of course, gaskets.  I have owned the van for 60K miles,
and the motor is now quieter and stronger than ever.  When I did the heads,
I replace the water pump.  No particular reason, other than it may have bee
the original.  I have driven about 8K miles since the work, and there is
now a steady drip from the weep hole on the water pump when the van is
running, probably about 30 drips per minute frequency.  I started digging
down to the water pump for potential replacement, and what I discovered is
that coolant drips from the weep hold when I turn the pulley on the pump by
hand!  It does not drip when stationary.

My question is, does this sound like a defective pump?  When the weep hole
starts to leak, should one expect it will do so even with hand spinning of
the pulley?  Has anyone else had a brand new water pump do this?

I am sure I have to get a new pump, but if I really need to start thinking
about pulling one or both the heads, I want to make sure that is the right
approach before I give away another weekend!

Thanks in advance,

Ed Morrell
90 Carat 133K
91 Carat 52K
and more......