GM / General Motors: 2000 silverado coolant leak. Update.

I posted a question a while back about possiblities of TSB for premature
water pump failure on my 2000 silverado. As a reminder it's got 45K miles
and started leaking coolant from what I thought was the water pump.
I've since looked further and can see that the leak isn't coming from the
weep hole in the water pump as I previously suspected but is in fact coming
from what looks like the gasket where the water pump connect to the pass.
side head. So now I'm relieved that I don't need to replace the water pump
but I still need to fix the leak. If I take it to a shop how many hrs should
i figure on replacing the gaskets, and/or how many hours should I figure for
a do it yourself? I'm capable of making the repair, I'm just trying to
justify the time it takes to do it.
One last thing. Would this be typical or unusual. I can't remember when I've
seen a factory water pump gasket fail. Especially with only 45K miles.
Thanks
B.Chase

"chase12" wrote
 
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From what I'm seeing at the dealership...there seems to be a problem
with these water pump gaskets. I've replaced a number of them for
coolant leaks. I've also replaced some water pumps too.

I think book time on these pumps is about 1.6-2.0 hrs. It's actually
a very simple job. Once you remove the upper shroud and the
fan/clutch assembly (you need a very large crescent wrench or the
special tool to get this off), it's very straightforward.

Ian