How often should waterpumps be replaced? I took my waterpump off to change the gasket, and want to know how freely it should be spinning? It spins but has a bit of resistance... not notchy or worn, just not as smooth as say a ballbearing wheel from a skateboard as an example.

The pump looks in good shape, but I want to know if I should be able to spin the pump by hand and have it keep spinning with no resistance? What kind of bearing is used? Is it a plane or ball bearing?

 

mine had a little resistance on it. probably some kind of seal so coolant doesn't go all over the place.

 

thats what I figured. it turns smooth, but just not like ball bearing turbo smooth.

 

There is a mechanical seal in there that should always have some friction.

 

I wouldn't worry about it unless it's making noise or your pulley has lateral play in it (as in you can wiggle it to-and-fro (with respect to the car, front-to-back). I had this problem and I chewed up a belt because of it. You can search for posts by me recently, as I replaced mine with an Mazmart RE-medy unit, which I have been very happy with so far!

 

No play...

and the RE-medy pump is a bit too rich for me right now... perhaps over the winter. I've been eyeing it up for a while. the only downside is I would have to get an idler pully since you can't run an under drive on them.

 

don't spend the money on the RE-Medy pump. I installed the pump and my car runs only 2deg. cooler. i must say that my car never ran that hot to begin with but i thought it would make a much bigger difference than it did. Unless you have $200 plus burning a hole in your pocket spend your money on something else!

 

The FD water pumps are VERY hardy. There's a weep hole at the front bottom of the water pump, if the bearings go water gets past them and weeps out that hole. That's the sign for a new pump.

You can get a LOT of life out of a stock pump. They'll easily do over 100k.

Dale

 

^With a properly tensioned belt.

I agree with the others. The RE-medy WP is a nice piece and probably should be at the top of your list before tracking a car. But for the average (mildly modded) street car, the stock WP is adequate and RE-Medy pump would be expensive over-kill IMO.

 

Cooler than what? Remember the FD has a thermostat and fan controls to keep the coolant at a minimum temperature. On the street it's not often that you'll push the upper limit and see the benefits of improved coolant flow.

The real test of the improved pump is the peak temps seen on a track, where minimum coolant temperature is irrelevant and the high RPM of the engine will not work with the stock pump.