2000 S80 T6 Coolant leak near water pump

[MyS40T4]

Hello,

I was wondering if anyone has seen this issue before...

I sort of assumed that this leak was the water pump seals until I took off the cam belt cover and peered through the wheel arch.

Looks like the core plug is leaking and not the pump seals as i first thought. It's a Volvo water pump but I don't know if its original or has been replaced. Note that the core plug is actually part of the water pump! (See the picture here: http://www.fcpeuro.com/products/volvo-engine-water-pump-s80-8694627my )

My question is, do i replace the water pump or could I safely get away with replacing the core plug only?

I was pleased to see that it was very clean behind the cambelt cover - no obvious oil leaks I've replaced the PCV stuff so I just need to do the cam seals at the other end.

Cheers,

Chris

[precopster]

I really don't think you'll get a good seal with a new plug. The Hepu pumps are widely used as replacements to the original Volvo ones and seem to get the job done with very few reports of failures.
It would be a big waste of time going to all that bother to replace that cap and have the weep hole or bearing give way just afew thousand miles down the road.