Hurt motor? NOPE! WATER PUMP!

[Philly87]

So I thought I'd really screwed up and hurt the motor because I've had a knocking sound coming from the front portion of the engine. Turns out the bearing in the water pump let go and the knocking I heard was the fan, clutch and pulley flopping around.

Finally something that went wrong that was actually a relief to find!!!

I've never had a pump fail this way. I've only ever had them seep from the weep hole.

I'm greatfull none the less!!!

 

[Fordum]

Had one on my Jeep the impeller fell off. Did not leak a drop, I had just noticed that the engine was getting hot, when the fan started hitting the radiator!
Jumped out and the fan and shaft had slid out of the pump until the fan hit.
Even then, it was not leaking a drop!

 

[GreenieK30]

My waterpump is making a growling noise and the fan wobbles but its not leaking. I just ordered an Ac-Delco unit for $234.16 hopefully it will last 24 years like the current one. Figure I should change it before I get stranded somewhere.

 

[4X4HIGH]

Glad it was something easy to fix and cheap also. I had a water pump pulley break in half on me once while I was sitting at a traffic light and it never made any noise. I didn't even know anything was wrong until the light turned green and I took off and had no P/S since the belt had come off after the pulley broke. The hardest thing to grasp was the price of the new pulley from the DEALER, it was only $8.00. I kept asking the guy if that was the correct part and price as Ii couldn't believe anything from a delaer could be that cheap but sure enough it was the correct part and price.

 

[Philly87]

Cheap is right because this pump is lifetime warranty from Autozone...

Wondering now if I should change to something different or stick another one on and go. Maybe upgrade to an aluminum from Edelbrock?

The motor seems to run cool enough with this pump so maybe I'll just keep it. I sure am glad I didn't have your problem Fordum... having to replace a radiator too would suck.

 

[diesel4me]

About 10 years ago,I had the water pump on my 400 small block in my '77 GMC K2500 let go with a "bang" while I was plowing the first pass of a 2' snowfall in my driveway--the impeller shaft snapped flush with the pump housing!--the remainder of the shaft and clutch fan flew off and landed in the fan shroud,it bunged the radiator core up pretty good,but it never leaked--sliced the upper radiator hose in half,and bashed the nipple it goes onto in the radiator,and derailed the P/S belt too...

I thought I blew the frigging motor,it made such a sickening noise!.....
It was "fun" getting the truck back to the garage 300' away with only one pass made to clear the driveway!..and getting my fathers K-Car to go thru tha wall of snow the town plows left at the end of the driveway,I think I got it airborne,I hit it going about 25 mph,to ensure I didn't get stuck right in the middle of it...luckily the parts store 4 miles down the road had a water pump and I was able to get the truck going and ready to use again by the next day....

I never had a Chevy water pump fail like that before...I think it might be because I used a 1" fan spacer on a clutch type fan...too much "leverage" I guess!..I took it off when I put the truck back together,I found out by locking the clutch fan I no longer overheated with the plow on,on longer rides...

 

[GreenieK30]

Cheap is right because this pump is lifetime warranty from Autozone...

Wondering now if I should change to something different or stick another one on and go. Maybe upgrade to an aluminum from Edelbrock?

I had a new import waterpump that was froze up when I took it out of the box. Quality parts made in the USA are worth the money, because if a cheaper import "lifetime warranty" pump takes out the radiator, hoses, and fan, will they cover those parts too? NO. Edelbrock waterpumps are made in the USA but are a little more $$ then AcDelco units.

 

[Philly87]

Very good point. The last AC Delco pump I bought though was made in China. I was very disappointed!

 

[diesel4me]

I dont like Autozone's "cheap" water pumps...when I put a 307 V8 in place of a 250 six in my van, I decided to replace the water pump that looked original to the '73 engine,as its a bitch to do with the engine in the van..for 13.99 I got a "limited lifetime"rebuilt water pump...

I installed the engine and drove the van about 300 miles trouble free--then I went to my brothers house 80+ miles away one day,and noticed anti-freeze dripping under the van when I went to leave..the dam pump was weeping out of the pee hole!..so I ended up replacing it in the vehicle anyway!..I bet the original 1973 pump would have lived had I left it on there--the engine still has the original AC fuel pump on it and its worked fine for 100,000 miles and 37 years!..too bad today if you go to a dealer looking for "genuine A-C Delco parts,most are made in mexico or china now and aren't any better than an aftermarket one...

 

[4X4HIGH]

People have this HUGE mis-conception that a "dealer part" is better than an "aftermarket part". Don't you guys realize that the dealer does not manufacture the parts. There are only several companies that build parts and other people buy from those companies then have the parts re-labeled for them.

 

[CGT80]

I have had an edelbrock pump on my 79 chevy for almost 10 years now. I have the engine out to be freshened up, so I am going to send the pump in to be rebuilt. I talked to edelbrock yesterday morning. They charge $75 to rebuild it in their so cal. shop and it takes 7-10 days. That beats $200 for a new one. I have been happy with it so far. I just don't want to put it on a fresh engine and have it fail in two months.

 

[Philly87]

I'm gonna look into an Edelbrock... Cheap insurance especially seeing as how I beat the living crap out of the motor in the old girl when I play in the dirt.

My right foot needs to go on a diet!!!