That hole is to allow any water that leaks past the seal to drain away without
getting into the bearings.
Your pump's seal is probably shot, and you have to get a new pump.
If you have a stock 14 PSI radiator cap, you might try replacing it with a 7
PSI cap.
The reduced pressure might reduce the leaking, for a while at least.
I run my '72 with a 7 PSI cap, and it never, never overheats.
Doug Braun
'72 Spit
At 12:40 PM 9/8/2004 -0400, you wrote:
>I have a 72 Spit Mark IV that I finally got to drive (bought it in June
>2004) this past weekend after spending the last 3 months fixing things to
>make it drivable.
>After the third short trip, I notice water leaking out from the front of
>the engine and around the water pump. I put the car back into the garage
>and took the water pump off to see if I could visual see a problem. Well
>when I looked at the pump, I noticed that near one of the 3 bolt holes that
>connect it to the pump housing there is a "hole" that looks like it was
>part of the casting and through the hole I could see part of the propeller
>shaft.
>
>What is this hole for? This is where the water was leaking out and quite a
>bit of rusty sediment was left behind in the "hole" and around it on the
>casting. What would cause the water to come out of this hole? Is there a
>bad seal around the propeller shaft?
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