D7E waterpump question?

Noticed that my waterpump on the D7E had a small drip at the bottom.Question??Should I try a water sealer or replace.Also,does the radiator need to be removed if it needs replacing?Thanks as always for any advive!!Dave A

As I remember back in my logging days with D6C's and D6D's, there is a weep hole in the bottom of the water pump. It needs to be cleaned out from time to time with a piece of wire so the pump can relieve itself. A drip now and again is normal. It's been years since I've been around those cat's but a Caterpillar dealer might be able to verify what I'm saying, or maybe I'm thinking of another piece of equipment I ran back in those days.

Most water pumps have a weep hole to allow water to escape if the seal starts leaking. The seals are a mechanical type, so they should not leak at all. That said, a drip isn't going to hurt anything, but it will, more than likely get worse. Now if the machine has been sitting for awhile, it may also get better, and stop, as the two seal faces 'reseat' themselves together from running. In other words, depending on the situation, it may be OK, but don't be surprised if you need to change the pump before too long.

As far as a stop leak, don't bother, as the seal is a face type that relies on spring pressure, and surface tension between the two faces to form the seal. In other words there's not a pinhole, etc that can be sealed by the material in the stop leak.

As for removing the radiator, I don't believe you'll need to go that far to get the water pump off. I haven't done a D7 specifically, but I know for the other's I have done the pump was accessible without doing so.

As for the final drive question below, they use a similar type face seal called a DuoCone. Instead of a spring they rely on the pressure from a BIG O-ring to provide the force against the sealing faces. What usually happens there is one of a few things. One the seal between the steering clutch housing and the final drive goes bad and overfills the housing, which causes it to leak. Two the seal gets damaged, or three the O-ring gets hard over time and loses some of it's force against the sealing faces.

Like another reply to that answer said, insure there is no metal in the housing first thing. Next see if it's overfull. If so then the seal from the steering clutch housing is leaking. If that's the case the steering clutch, and final drive both have to be pulled to repair that seal. If the housing isn't over full, and there is no metal found, about the only thing to do short of pulling things down to replace the seal is to run it and keep it full.

Hope this helps.