I recently changed out a lot of the items in the timing belt area, including the water pump. I replaced the old pump with a brand new pump, replaced the pump assembly gasket, replaced the thermostat, and the thermostat assembly gasket. I didn't replace the thermostat housing as I didn't see it to be necessary.

Two days ago I took my first big trip since the "rebuild." I drove to Tahoe and back, including some errands in between. This clocked a total of about 4.5 - 5 hours, and approximately 225 miles, round-trip.

Yesterday I noticed substantial radiator fluid loss. I looked under the car while it was idling, and noticed that radiator fluid was dripping. It looks to be leaking where the water pump assembly meets the engine block. Why it is doing this is beyond me. I replaced the gasket using high-temp RTV-type silicon, and I torqued down the bolts for the pump in the proper order, to the proper spec. Maybe the cheesy Chilton's manual that I have has the incorrect torque spec on the bolts? Now that I think about it, maybe I only put the silicon on the engine block-side of the gasket.

So, any suggestions anyone? Should I get back in there, pull the pump, reapply silicon (or maybe something else), and put it back together? Should I replace the water pump gasket again? My Chilton's manual says to torque down the bolts to 7 - 10 ft/lbs... is this right? I torqued the bolts using a dial-type torque wrench, not the click-type that has the adjustment on the handle. Should I invest in a nice click-type torque wrench?

What I'd really like to do is just seal the outside of the pump with a bunch a silicon all over the place. I'd also like to think that would work. Is this a viable option?

Damn it, I hate it when **** breaks! Thank you much everyone.