Water pump coupling failed.
04-24-2009, 12:16 AM
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Location: Engineerland
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Water pump coupling failed.
Dont really need any info here since the care is already back together but thought I would share. Driving home today I started to hear a funny sound. Sorta like a power steering pump going out etc but it had sort of a clattering sound with it as well. At first i thought it was a rocker and as it got worse i suspected a trans problem but the car was running fine save for being about 10 degrees hotter than normal.
So I limp it home at 50mph to keep the revs down with the cruise on. By the time i get home pulling up the driveway there is a very pronounced whining sound. I suspect serious issues with the engine or trans at this point. So I pop the hood look under there. Touch the throttle, sounds terrible and its coming from the opti area but the car is running fine. So i look and i see all this red dust around the opti and on the coil wire etc. WTF is this? I figure its the bearing on the water pump yet again and pull my new one off the shelf since nobody local ever carries new ones only rebuilt.
I'm totally shocked when I get the water pump off and start to inspect the failure. Its not leaking and the bearing is fine too. The failure was the freaking splines in the coupling and the splines on the water pump. They were both gone, damn near rounded out. The splines on the drive coming from the timing cover and that side of the coupling were in perfect shape though, thank god I have the timing cover off enough for performance reasons I dont need extra.
Lucky me I have a few sitting around and one of them only has 10k on it. It just sucks and cost me my only night of relaxing for the next week or so. Just never seen a water pump fail that way its almost always the bearing or the seal. And so ends the life of water pump 5 on my lt1. Thought I would share never even heard of this happening to anyone. All you guys building stout motors buy a new coupler its worth the $40 bucks if yours has some miles on it.
So I limp it home at 50mph to keep the revs down with the cruise on. By the time i get home pulling up the driveway there is a very pronounced whining sound. I suspect serious issues with the engine or trans at this point. So I pop the hood look under there. Touch the throttle, sounds terrible and its coming from the opti area but the car is running fine. So i look and i see all this red dust around the opti and on the coil wire etc. WTF is this? I figure its the bearing on the water pump yet again and pull my new one off the shelf since nobody local ever carries new ones only rebuilt.
I'm totally shocked when I get the water pump off and start to inspect the failure. Its not leaking and the bearing is fine too. The failure was the freaking splines in the coupling and the splines on the water pump. They were both gone, damn near rounded out. The splines on the drive coming from the timing cover and that side of the coupling were in perfect shape though, thank god I have the timing cover off enough for performance reasons I dont need extra.
Lucky me I have a few sitting around and one of them only has 10k on it. It just sucks and cost me my only night of relaxing for the next week or so. Just never seen a water pump fail that way its almost always the bearing or the seal. And so ends the life of water pump 5 on my lt1. Thought I would share never even heard of this happening to anyone. All you guys building stout motors buy a new coupler its worth the $40 bucks if yours has some miles on it.
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