is it worth it? i am thinking i am going to go ahead and get it just cause i hear the mechanical ruins optis. does the electric?

 

I read somewhere, someone did a dyno before the water pump and after the water pump and it gave them 10rwhp on the dyno. However, I got one just for the better cooling ability.

 

I used to recommend these things, now I don't..... My stock pump went out, so I decided I'd get the extra 10 whp with one of these things. Long story short one day the pump decided just not to come on. So I got a mile or two down the road and saw the temp was running dangerously high. It wasn't at redline so I caught it in time, pulled over and shut the car off. So about 5 minutes after shutting the car off, I turned the ignition on to get a temp reading- this time the pump came on and shock cooled the heads which warped them. This shock cooling eventually led to a cracked block! So all in all, 10 whp cost me initially about $60 more than a new stock pump, then cost me about $200 in parts and machine work if I wanted to just go back and fix it stock, then $150 for another block that I have to rework. So yea, it's pretty expensive. It's not worth it.

 

hum, well i dunno then, maybe this just isnt worth the gain. do they still leak? i mean as long as the car is running then the water is circulating right? the only thing an electric one would do would prevent the high temp at shut off. and it wouldnt even do that unless u left the key on.

 

My electric pump never leaked. When my stock one leaked it did not take out the opti though....

 

Sounds a little hard to believe, I mean it isn't like the coolant in the radiator turned to ice water in 5 minutes. I find it hard to believe that his caused warped heads and a cracked block. I have alot of customer running the CSR and Meziere pumps with no problems on street driven cars

 

i think i am going to stick with the mechanical pump the gains dont seem to be worth the headache and "maybe a headache down the road" headaches associated with the EWP

 

Well you can find it hard to believe all you want. The head gaskets blew within a week, and the head mating surfaces did not check out flat.

The coolant in the heads went from 250* to not even registering on the gauge in seconds, then immediately followed by a blown head gasket. It took a while for the block to crack, but honestly how many LT1 blocks do you hear of cracking? The only explanation I can come up with is shock cooling and fatiguing the metal.

 

quite possible on the shock cooling 'cos since the coolant in the radiator was never circulated ('cos the pump didn't work) ... so you have a 250+ system that's being introduced to 70-80 temps, something's bound to go wrong real quick!

Also, there's a guy that my company works with who just introduced the "waterpump watchdog" that alerts you if the pump is not pulling enough current ... believe me, there's a lot of electronics in the system he produces, not just a little circuit with a bulb. You might wanna also invest in something like that for safety.

 

It makes sense to me.

 

I dont like ewp.. but in your case your temp gauge might not read correct and it was infact overheating. just because its not at 260* doesnt mean it wont cause damage. I doubt 100* coolant rushing into a 250* block would cause any warping cracking or hg leaks. Most warping heads are warped because of serious temps on or near the exhaust side of the head.