I've never done it myself, but I have read that it is possible to do that without messing with the water pump. Follow the pipes in the direction of the driver's side and see if you can loosen them from any type of bracket and then you should be able to pull the pipe out of the back of the water pump housing. At least that's what I've read.

 

I'm away from the car but I think I remember seeing a bracket they went through attached to the left (driver's) front side of the engine head.

 

I think you are saying it is leaking from where one of these two arrows is pointing, right? I think you mean the one with the black arrow:



Here is a bracket (blue arrow) on this '99 Camry I4 through which the pipes are secured. You can see that the forward pipe is connected to a rubber hose. You can't see it in the photo, but the rear pipe does eventually connect to a hose as well. The pipes criss-cross as they go under the manifold, so the rear pipe is the one that connects to where the black arrow is and the front pipe to the red arrow. I believe if you loosen this bracket (green circles the bolt), you then have some flex thanks to the rubber hoses and can pull the pipe(s) out of the water pump:



Probably don't need it, but here's a closer view of the bracket with the pipes attached:

 

Those pipes are welded together so you need to remove the bolt as shown and another one above the transmission.

 

like this? :crying:

 

It's the bottom one marked with the black arrow.

Those two bypass pipes also have extensions that go to the oil cooler. And the one that goes toward the back of the engine bay looks pretty inaccessible should it crack when flexed. From what I've been able to search for, it seems no one else wants to mess with them either.

So given that, I decided it was preferable to face the evil that is known vs the one that isn't and get to the gasket via the water pump. The good news is that it only took me 2 hours to get the water pump out.

The gasket that came with the AISIN water pump kit looks like a thin piece of metal. Should I use this along with some Permatex silicon gasket maker for water pumps & Thermostat housings?

My other option is to use the paper gasket that came with my engine gasket kit and seal it with some "Copper Spray a Gasket."

I've always been leery of paper gaskets so i'm less fond of going this way.

p.s. - If adding gasket maker (GM) to a connection, where is the best place to put it? Should the gasket go next to water pump, with the GM put on top of that and then connected to the hose fitting? Or should the gasket go on the hose side?

And how should it be put on? As a bead around the inner hole of the gasket? The gasket is the one on the right in the picture here:
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B008EEYVDQ?psc=1&redirect=true&ref_=oh_aui_detailpage_o03_s00

 

I once had the exact same problem after doing major work on a Camry. The cause was the nuts were slightly loose. I've never had these leak with that gasket. Make sure the pump is properly positioned and that you get the gasket at that connection started first.

 

Dont put any sort of rtv on that. The O ring is probably miss seated or the surface wasnt clean.

Wet the o ring with coolant before forcing it into the waterpump housing.

 

Maybe it was the residue of the old gasket that caused this, as you suspect. I've never had a problem with the Aisin gasket and haven't needed any gasket sealer/RTV or anything. Yeah, put some coolant on that rubber o-ring, as carsrus suggested.

 

Like others mentioned, I would not put any RTV on that connection.

 

Too late. The gasket has a groove (I'm sure there's a proper term for it) that runs around the central opening. A section had been flattened out, probably where the foreign object had been. I was afraid it would leak there again anyway so I RTV'd it. Seems to be holding up but it's only been an afternoon.

I'm going to order another gasket and maybe replace it when/if I replace the bypass hoses. Would I have to get one from the dealer if I wanted a metal one like it?


Thanks to everyone for all the feedback and support through this ordeal. At least I'm back on the road again - for better or worse.

 

@jhelliot

If it's the 5SFE built in North America, it's probably this one:

 

Are you referring to the two O-rings that actually seal the coolant pipes? That’s where a leak would originate, not at the mating surface gasket which keeps the surfaces from corroding. If you’re leaking, it’s the o-rings.

 

Good question. @jhelliot , please tell us what specifically you mean by "that gasket". Is it one of these? If so, which one?

 

????