Water pump failed - upgrades recommended?

[00Spiderman]

Last week my water pump apparently gave up. Since we'll be taking the engine out of the car anyway to have it fixed, what modifications and upgrades would you guys recommend? I was contemplating a radiator upgrade, but what else would make sense at this point? I'm not a true wrench monkey and have very limited knowledge of the engines inner workings.

My car is a 2004 T350t with 12500 miles on it.

Any input is greatly appreciated!

[plasticman]

Do you mean it has stopped pumping water or water is leaking past the seals ? If it is the former i would just fit an electric water pump and save yourself a packet . It would also rectify the low rpm pumping problem that many speed sixes have .

[natben]

If the engine is coming out, I would look at replacing the engine mounts, and if the clutch hasn't been changed and is above 25K miles its a good time to change it. Also take a look at the chassis next to manifolds check you have the heat shield between chassis and manifolds if not fit one. A general clean and touch up of the engine bay taking care of any rust would be a good idea. Oh and fit a 125amp fuse if not already done.

[m4tti]

plasticman said:

Do you mean it has stopped pumping water or water is leaking past the seals ? If it is the former i would just fit an electric water pump and save yourself a packet . It would also rectify the low rpm pumping problem that many speed sixes have .

If you still remove the engine (the above though is top advice) I'd look to replace the halftime bearing and chain tensioners.

[Zippee]

m4tti said:

If you still remove the engine (the above though is top advice) I'd look to replace the halftime bearing and chain tensioners.

100% this!

[00Spiderman]

Because of budget constraints I think I'm going to opt for the electric water pump. Great suggestion! My wife and wallet agree.

Have any of you done this before (I'm guessing yes) and if so, what make of pump did you use? And where in the circuit did you install it?
No point in me re-inventing the wheel here.

[00Spiderman]

• bump *

[plasticman]

I have not heard of it done before but thought it would be a good idea even due to the poor pumping ability on tickover . Davies craig pumps seem to be the most commonly used mounted low down .

[00Spiderman]

Well, the water pump is installed. It's a generic 500l/hour unit and so far so good: temps are down from 120 degrees to a more acceptable 70-90 depending on load. Will do some more testing soon and will let you guys know how it holds up. If it goes bang you'll hear about it first

[Sagi Badger]

Martijn,

I would love to know what went "wrong" with your water pump. The pump is driven by the same chain as the oil pump and also tensions the chain, so quite critical. If it just stopped pumping I wonder what happened.

Can you tell me what type of pump you have.

Thanks, J

[00Spiderman]

Apparently scale formation caused the pump to stall, but I can't be 100% sure that's what it was. We didn't lift the engine to gain access to the pump. The chain seems to be okay, the oil pressure is good and never dips below 1 bar. We verified this with an external pressure gauge.

[Mattt]

Interesting, was the impeller spinning on the shaft?

[craigcaf]

Spiderman..... any chance of some more info on what you did for the install, parts, pics? All gratefully received.

Thnka C

[Sagi Badger]

Where is the impeller now....?

Hope it doesn't snag up and lock things up, thoughts anyone?

J

[m4tti]

Hmm presumably the impeller has some how become detached from its input and the shaft is simply spinning. If it had seized then you'd presume from this diagram that bad things would happen on the oil pump side of things.

Edited by m4tti on Monday 16th September 20:46

[Sagi Badger]

Time will tell. Hope we have a long wait. I want to take a water pump apart now...