Water dripping from a coupling

[AST]

Hi,
We are traveling south on the icw and I have been checking the engine everyday. Today, I noticed some water under the engine and found the source from what looks like a T coupling in the hose coming out of water pump">raw water pump into the heat exchange (please see the pics, I marked it with yellow arrow).

Any idea what that T is?
I have Acor self sealing repair tape, can I just wrap it to stop the dripping.
BTW, the dripping happens only when the engine is running. Higher rpm does NOT increase the dripping rate. It drips about one drop every 5 seconds.

Any help will highly be appreciated.
THanks

[Kettlewell]

In your images that hose looks awfully close to the belt and pulley. Any chance the hose has a leak and it is dripping down to that T coupling? Or, could the water be dripping down from the impeller housing? If that were the intake line for the water pump I would think it might be a fitting to allow for easy flushing and winterization. You could attach a hose connected to jugs of antifreeze for the winter.

[Hobby]

It’s hard to tell from the picture but on Yanmar engines there is a drain plug in that location to drain the raw water system when changing hoses.
Look very carefully at the face of the fitting and you may see that an Allen key fits.
If there is an Allen key receptacle, you could carefully tighten the plug.
Good luck.

[AST]

looks like water is dripping from the hose end connecting to the raw water pump and simply moving to the T since it is at the lowest point. There is enough gap between the hose and the pulley, and I don't see any sign of rubbing against the pulley. I tighten the clamp on the hose and will monitor if there is more leak.
Thanks

[Bowdrie]

The "green" build-up behind the pump pulley suggests that the seal is leaking on the pump?
Yes, as others have posted, the "T" is for drainage/flushing.

[AST]

Any suggestion on how to fix this (leaking seal)? Maybe I can find a youtube video to help me, but what should I look for?
Any suggestion would be highly appreciated

Originally Posted by Bowdrie

The "green" build-up behind the pump pulley suggests that the seal is leaking on the pump?
Yes, as others have posted, the "T" is for drainage/flushing.

[Chotu]

Originally Posted by AST

Any suggestion on how to fix this (leaking seal)? Maybe I can find a youtube video to help me, but what should I look for?
Any suggestion would be highly appreciated

It’s a rubber part inside the water pump that you’ll have to order.



Without knowing the exact model Yanmar and water pump you have, this is just an example. But number 10, number 11, number 12 in this diagram. These are what retains the water inside the pump.

These pumps are exceedingly easy to take apart. They are made to take apart frequently so you can replace the impeller (#7) which you should also do while you are in there.

Note: you’ll probably be fine all the way to Florida with it leaking. It’s not an immediate emergency. Nice to get it fixed up so everything is perfect, but you could still go to a more populated area or whatever you need to do in order to receive the parts. It’s just a little bit of seawater coming out of the raw water pump.

[AST]

Thanks @chotu for the details.
It is a yanmar 3ym30
I have the replacement kit which comes with impeller o ring and screws. I took off the front plate and verified the impeller is in good shape so I replaced the o ring. But it still leaks.
I would very much appreciate if I can get answers to the following questions.
1- how much should I tighten the screws? I tighten them but not all the way. I was afraid to keep applying pressure.
2- we are in goergia icw heading to st Augustin. Any recommendations for a mechanics there? I think the pump may need to be rebuild the pump (there is a rebuild kit which I don't have.) Any place in st. Augustin that sell them?
3- what would you do if you were in my place? I m heading south to west palm beach to stage for bahamas crossing (or at least that is the plan)
4- with alot of people cruising, you would think there should be a way to get an "online mechanis" with whom you can do a video call and he will walk you through the process. Is there such a thing?

Thanks

Originally Posted by Chotu

It’s a rubber part inside the water pump that you’ll have to order.



Without knowing the exact model Yanmar and water pump you have, this is just an example. But number 10, number 11, number 12 in this diagram. These are what retains the water inside the pump.

These pumps are exceedingly easy to take apart. They are made to take apart frequently so you can replace the impeller (#7) which you should also do while you are in there.

Note: you’ll probably be fine all the way to Florida with it leaking. It’s not an immediate emergency. Nice to get it fixed up so everything is perfect, but you could still go to a more populated area or whatever you need to do in order to receive the parts. It’s just a little bit of seawater coming out of the raw water pump.

[AST]

Thanks to all.
I ended up buying a new pump and I installed it. The problem is fixed and now have a spare to rebuild later.