I put a new motor in Ryan's blue truck about 2 weeks ago. New water pump from summit. Engine ran about 2-2.5 hours and it started puking anti-freeze out the weep hole on the bottom. Summit sent a new one and after about 2 1/2 hours we were back in business. Ran the engine about 1.5 hours and then Denny came to pick it up and take it home. He made it about 10 miles down the road and the same thing happened! Called Summit and told them not to send another pump and just refund my money. ( Superb customer service as always)
Picked up a new pump from Advance auto thinking maybe there was a bad run on the pumps from Summit. New pump was a Carquest brand and it was installed and ran longer, but still less than 4 or 5 hours. Yes it too is blowing fluid out the weep hole!

So what is going on? Is there a bad run of pumps out there or is something going on with this truck. I can not see anything wrong.

Truck has an aftermarket A/C kit on it. That moved the front pulley out about 1" on the water pump with a spacer. Then it has a Thermal fan with 5 or 6 blades in front. The pulleys/belts line up well and there is no vibration that I can see while running. I am out of ideas and I'm about tired of changing pumps every 4 days!

I am thinking the thermal fan has to be loading the pump too much or something but I don't see how? They came with them from the factory. I am considering dumping the fan altogether and installing an electric fan for more room anyway.

Any help appreciated.

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2 Mopars come with Spark plug tubes. One is a world class, racing machine. The other is a 426 CI. boat anchor!

12.70 @ 104.6

Wrong impeller trying to push water backwards through the system is my guess. Have you looked at the impellers on all of those pumps? Good Luck

If coolant is coming out the weep hole you have a seal problem. And that's often not the seal itself, but the surface riding against the seal. Without pressing the pump apart you can't see where the face seal rides against the casting, but that's likely where the problem lies. GMB pumps used to be good, but it's been a long time since I worked a parts counter. In looking at pictures of the 9 'different' pumps on RockAuto only the Airtex and Cardone remanufactured pump show the correct 6-blade impeller, but that won't affect leakage at all, just water flow.

If you have an old pump with a good casting it might be worth having it rebuilt locally.

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Joshua

Not sure how that would even work? I have water coming into the radiator from the top hose so it is not pumping backwards.


Thanks Josh, I think all of these pumps are new - not remanufactured. All had 8 blades I think.
I don't even have any ides if anyone around here rebuilds water pumps. If they do I haven't heard about them in 30 years. We hardly even have a radiator shop anymore.

With my luck there is a bad run on them and the one I got branded "Carquest" comes from the same place the Summit one did!! That would be my luck!

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2 Mopars come with Spark plug tubes. One is a world class, racing machine. The other is a 426 CI. boat anchor!

12.70 @ 104.6

Well...it sounds like you are doing something wrong, whatever that is.

Here's my guess....the pulley arrangement you have adopted is making the pump unhappy. It could be placing too much side load on the bearings, it could be over-speeding the pump, or something else. A pic of the pulley setup might help.

Also, how do you tension the belt? Some people have the belt almost slipping, others have it so tight they had to use a 4 foot crowbar. Overtightening the belt will over-load the bearings.

It's a seal issue, but usually, on a low hours pump, the seal OD pops out of the housing....it's not a case where the seal lip starts leaking. The OD of the seal migrates because...to much side load on the bearings.

Another cause of migration is the 'rebuilt' water pump that has sloppy bores and never really hold the bearing that well. I always buy new pumps only.

Ever consider it might be the new engine ?

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63 Plymouth Valiant Wagon

I'll post a picture later.

New water pump pulley is a 2 belt pulley. Back one runs the alternator which is in the original location, passenger side. Tighten by pulling top of alternator to the side by hand, tighten bolt. It is not overtightened. New A/C compressor sets just to the side of the thermostat housing. 2nd belt on the water pump pulley runs the A/C and it has an idler pulley for tightening. I also pull it back by hand and tighten. It is not overtightened either.

So the alternator load to the Passenger side, and the A/C load on the Drivers side should cancel each other out somewhat.

When this pump comes out I will do a closer check on the bearing tightness....etc

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2 Mopars come with Spark plug tubes. One is a world class, racing machine. The other is a 426 CI. boat anchor!

12.70 @ 104.6

Here is a photo of the pulley / fan set up. Pulley diameter looks really close to the factory size. Sorry truck is not here to check for sure. A/C compressor sets on the plate. I believe that the whole set up was from Vintage air, so it is not something we threw together.

Could it be the new engine you ask? In what way?

Engine was in a truck and was run until an oil pump gear failed. Engine had the crank done and new rings, bearings...etc. That is it. Nothing that should cause a water pump failure.


The only thing I see on this set up is that the double pulley on the water pump has that 1" spacer behind it to move the pulley forward. That then moves the viscous fan out that same amount. That is the only thing I see that would not be an absolutely factory type setup.

Thanks for the help

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2 Mopars come with Spark plug tubes. One is a world class, racing machine. The other is a 426 CI. boat anchor!

12.70 @ 104.6

Most of these pumps appear to be coming from the same place which is why I put "brands" in quotes. If my hypothesis is correct then a casting/machining defect in one brand will appear across all brands. This is part of why I pointed out that Airtex and Cardone appear different from the other pumps.

Hanging more accessories off the water pump will make things hard on the bearings, but the seal shouldn't care one whit until the bearings fail. Have you had bearing failure?

If you want the pump rebuilt locally talk to someone that knows how to take care of really old stuff like tractors and pre WWII cars. They are few and far between, but not extinct.

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Joshua

I did not notice any bearing looseness, in the last one I changed. But when we pull this one off I will look a lot more closely and take some pictures. I’m not really sure what to do. Advance is going to give me another pump of course, but I am not sure I want to do this again if you know what I mean.

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2 Mopars come with Spark plug tubes. One is a world class, racing machine. The other is a 426 CI. boat anchor!

12.70 @ 104.6

Maybe radiator cap with too high pressure. (higher than marked).

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Ed
64 Valiant 225 / 904 / 42:1 manual steering / 9" drum brakes

This is bizziare. I don't think you have done anything that would warrant consist failures like that..

Maybe you let Ryan drive it? He tends to find the limit on stuff.


Will be interesting to figure out what's going on there.

Greg

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http://www.youtube.com/hyperpack

Bizarre it is!

Stant cap. I have yet to see the upper hose tight. So it isn't building too much pressure. Engine barely hits 160 degrees. The fan really moves a lot of air. That is why I think the electric fan will be a better set up anyway.

Just checked the box and the Carquest pump was a new pump. Made in Mexico.

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2 Mopars come with Spark plug tubes. One is a world class, racing machine. The other is a 426 CI. boat anchor!

12.70 @ 104.6

Instead of putting another new pump on, do you have a known good used pump from another slant that you have setting around? If you don’t I have the prior motor out of the 68 Barracuda. I could pull the pump off of it and mail it you.
If that one develops a leak then you can bet that you have a loading or a back pressure problem. If it does not leak, then the run of bad water pumps gains credibility.

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Doo Ron Ron and the Duke of Earl are friends of mine.....
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uX8Nj8ABEI8

Yes John, I was just thinking of the motor I am going to pull out of my Truck to swap in the motor with Doug's 14T oil pump gear. It has been run for @ 10-12000 miles. Still low miles, but long enough to verify it is a good pump. I may just do that.

I did order one of the Airtex 6 vane impeller pumps to try later also.

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2 Mopars come with Spark plug tubes. One is a world class, racing machine. The other is a 426 CI. boat anchor!

12.70 @ 104.6