1 year ago I had my engine rebuilt (68). Was done by a vette restoration shop. Since that time I have gone through two rebuilt water pumps (current water pump is new)and after 1000 miles I'm getting ready to put in my third thermastat. Any ideas of what's wrong and what should I look for? (Or do I just have bad luck?)
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Re: 327/350 HELP!!!!
You get what you pay for. Case in point. I bought a Discount Auto battery for my pick up.The battery was to last a million years. HA HA on me. It lasted 3 months and nearly had stuck out in a swamp surrounded by gators one night when it chose to become a "Discounted" Auto battery and died. I was lucky to have gotten out. Had some help from some local hunters or I would have been hunted by the preditors out there. They have to eat also. No more Discount anything except rubber bands for me.
Buy a good chevy GM water pump and if it goes out take it back.grr#33570 -
Water pumps
Automotive water pump bearings are standard items. There are a couple of SAE sizes used by the domestic manufacturers, and the early small blocks use the small 5/8 inch bearing. This comes in two flavors - ball/ball and ball/roller. The first type uses two rolls of balls. The second type replaces the front row of balls with rollers, so it can take more side load. This bearing was typically used on engines that had a lot of external accessories. In 37 years of owning cars I have never had a water pump last much longer than 40K miles including two Mercedes. I finally launched an investigation and found a local family owned shop that has been rebuilding pumps for 40 years, They educated me and now I take all my pumps to them for rebuild with ball/roller bearings, and they also use the highest quality seals. At this point I'm not putting enough miles on my cars to do much useful life testing, but I'm convinced this is the way to go rather than buying rebuilts or even new, but like grr said, if you buy off the shelf, make sure you get a quality part - either GM or a reputable national brand. Same applies to the thermostat. Once you get some decent parts in there renew the coolant with a 50/50 mixture of Havoline Extended Life (Dexcool) anti-freeze and distilled water. The lack of abrasive silicates and other inorganic salts in Dexcool will extend the life of the pump seal.
DukeComment
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More info please.
It's possible that you face the problem I had. Does your car have air conditioning? Mine would ruin bearings at high revs with the air conditioner engaged. Power shifts (with a-c on) would split the casting open or crack off the nose piece. My solution was to mount a 73 pump (with a stronger casting and a larger shaft and bearings). You have to pull the cover off the back and press the pulley flange back farther to maintain belt alignment. I use a pulley from the 70s. - DaveComment
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Re: More info please.
No A/C on my SWC and I've never had a structural failure of any casting - just a leak or obvious noise and roughness from the bearing, which indicated the bearing had failed. Actually, in 37 years I've only owned seven cars and still have four of them. The 40K "rule" applied to my SWC, '72 Vega GT, '76 Cosworth Vega, '84 Merc 190E, '88 Merc 190E 2,6. I sold my '81 diesel Rabbit at 33K, and the jury is still out on the '91 MR2 at only 31K. Both the Merc pumps were covered under warranty. My solution now is to have pumps rebuilt by my local shop with the most durable bearing available, and to use Dexcool.
Sounds like you might be onto a solution with the heavier late casting, but it might be a good idea to avoid power shifting with the A/C on. Also, the late casting might use the 3/4 inch bearing. My rebuilder is Superior Pump Exchange in Hawthorne, CA. You might want to talk to them about your problem 310-676-4995. Ask for Sharon.
DukeComment
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Toyota Water Pumps Are Different
Duke,
My experience with Chevrolet SB water pumps was about the same as yours, only the mileage interval for me was about 50K. You could depend on it.
From my experience, Toyota and some other Japanese water pumps are a totally different story. Those buggers are behind the timing belt cover, and are a real chore to change, but I never had one fail. I have a Toyota and a Ford Probe (Mazda) with a combined mileage of over 300K miles. I just change the water pump when I change the timing belt. Sometimes, the timing belt change gets stretched out to about 80K.
Chuck SangerhausenComment
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