Water Leak

my 1300 has developed a nasty habit of peeing all over the floor, which is less concerning than first thought as i thought it was oil.

i was wondering if anyone knew:

a) what the problem was likely to be (pump, gasket, water rail) i know it could be any of them, but thought one of them might be more likely.

b) how easy is it to fix? as i get laughed at every morning when i walk into work with an empty 5l bottle of water and have to fill it before i leave.
if its a tough job does anyone know anyone surrey way that can sort it cheap and quick?

Cheers

I would say the pump is most likely, but a Mk1 could leak from anywhere at this age. It should be fairly easy to see where from if its losing 5 litres quickly!! First check the oil cap and make sure there is no white gunk in it - a sign of a cracked head or head gasket leak. Then just dry the engine off, and watch for leaks with the engine running (watch out for the fan cutting in even with engine off and keep an eye on the temp gauge and level). Most cooling system parts are easy to change even for a novice. A pump is a bit more tricky as the valve timing has to be set up before the cam belt is removed. Will be a cheap fix unless its the head gasket. Find out where the leak is and we will talk you through the fix if you have problems.

Cheers
Rajan

Ok,
had a little look in the engine bay, removed carb and cover, and this is basically what i saw - sorry the photo isn't great but it's in a really awkward place to try and get a good view.



any help as to what it is would be appreciated. i'm thinking it's the pump.
Cheers

99.9% sure that it's your water pump (photo is fine, by the way - very useful).

You need a new one, and ensure that it comes with a new rubber seal, or else order one separately.

Haynes has a good description of removal and refitting, but if you don't have one, let us know, and we'll put up the main points…

thanks, when i bought the car it did actually come with a haynes, albeit a diesel one - however having had a quick look it does all appear to all be in the same place. so wil have to get hold of a water pump.

Careful now, the diesel has (I think) the same water pump layout as the big-block petrol engine (1.6/1.8).

These big-block water pumps are driven by the untimed v-belt, whereas the small-block (1.1/1.3) engines' water pumps are driven by the (timed) cam belt. On these smaller engines, the water pump itself is used to tension the cam belt too.

If the diesel Haynes book doesn't go into timing details, you need to get the small block Haynes (Owners Workshop Manual 716).

Right - its looking almost certain to be your water pump sealing ring - its quite common so don't worry about it too much.

What you MUST remember is that the other two things attached to the belt that also goes to the water pump MUST go back in exactly the same place as they were before as they are VITAL to the correct running of the engine.  If you look on the two other wheels you will see that they have markings on them which, if you keep turning them, will both eventually line up with makings on the engine.  If you aren't sure when the timing belt was last changes on the car - do this whilst you are on with the water pump…