The Chronicles Of Mercules - Water Pump

[Mercules]

Ever since i took delivery of the 450 I have noticed a tiny pool of coolant under the engine after a decent run - after a quick diagnosis it was clear the water pump seals could not hold the pressure... several months and many many litres of top-up water later it could not be ignored any more and require urgent attention

The coolant flinging off the water pump pulley and spraying on the underside of the bonnet was clear enough evidence that catastrophic failure was imminent...



Before I even started, you can clearly see the green colidified coolant gathering around the hose outlets and also the thermo-idle solenoid above the distributor



The more I pulled it apart the worse it seemed - all the alloy hose fittings were corroded and krusty!



Once apart I cleaned all the sealing faces and scraped off the corrosion. Everything got a goot work-over with some emery paper and a razor blade.





Reassembly was a snack - using Ultra-Grey silicone is a guarantee the gasket will never leak!



You can see from these next photos just how cruddy the old pump was - the sound of the shaft turning is like fingernails down a blackboard! The drain holes were full of glugged up coolant!





THe thromostat was corroded in tight - i broke the top off it trying to easi it out!!! I went down to REPCO to get some more coolant and ask if they could find a listing on the thermostat - imagine my surprise when the had one on the shelf!!! AT REPCO



New hoses I bought from Autobarn (they took 2 weeks to supply ) did the trick - prefect fit and not too expensive



I also replaced the 2 coolant hoses from the manifold/water pump top - they were leaking too and are very hard to get at with everything else in place





After bleeding the cooling system and pressure testing, a couple of laps around the block and no more leaks!



So there you have it!

Cam

 

[BenzBoy]

Very satisfying!! Rather like a cigarette after &$%?
Regards,
BenzBoy

 

[Mercules]

Very satisfying!! Rather like a cigarette after &$%?
Regards,
BenzBoy

I know what you mean, except I have never had a &$%? that took 5 hours, involved 5 litres of alcohol and left my hands dirty and black!!!

 

[WGB]

Well at least your hands weren't brown

Great job - and thanks for taking the trouble to document it.

Bill

 

[Styria]

Well done Cam, especially considering the circumstances you work under - a workshop would be just that much better, with better facilities and bench tools. Youir time of five hours - did that include the stroll to Repco and back ? Regards Styria

It looks as though I'll soon have to document some pics in the very near future - not looking forward to it.

 

[Mercules]

Yes, it did involve the walk to Repco... and 30min lunch break too! I think the total work time was about 3.5 hours - but working out of a garage it much more time consuming that having a workshop! My kingdom for a wire wheel bench grinder!!!!

Just a note Mike, (RE: the 82 deg thermostat) I have been monitoring the lower radiator hose temperature since the job was done... we drove out to Sans Souci tonight and on arrrival the lower hose was barely warm... so too it was warm when we got home a couple of minutes ago. It is quite cold out at the moment though...

The hose pressure is good and it is not getting too hot... seems to be running much smoother once it has reached operating temperature than it did before. Possibly the engine likes to run a little warmer.... lets see how it goes once spring & summer come around

 

[Styria]

Sometimes, it makes you wonder how you can do without a bench grinder....or some special spanners...cleaning agents,,one could go on forever, and it is almost on a daily basis that you appreciate the tools available to one self. It's been said that you're only half the tradesman unless you have the right tools.

The 82 degree thermostat would probably work just fine in the colder winter period - as I said, I did try an 87 degree unit at one stage with a 450 (cannot remember what period of the year) but the engine was certainly inclined to want to run too hot. Reverting back to the 79 degree unit solved the "hotter" running problem. Regards Styria

 

[SELfor50]

Great job Mercules!! 3.5hrs, i'm sure you'll agree, is not much considering the piece of mind you now have that you're engine is being cooled properly?!

Now that you've ripped off the cooling system and done a flush / clean / pump replacement etc.. This resulted in a much smoother engine / idle at operating temp yeah? Would you recommend going through this process (short of replacing the pump if it was still ok) for anyone looking to improve the flow of their cooling system?
(Eg.. was there a heap of gunk restricting it at all?)

 

[John S]

I'm glad its running nicely for you now Cam, the gauge always seemed to show a lowish temperature of about 65 degrees, only once can I remember it going significantly higher (to about 85) on the way home from the NSW's Clubs' Christmas picnic when we were stuck in traffic with the outside temperature over 100F.

In normal running the temperature gauge was very steady at around the 65 Degrees, but as the hoses felt quite hot to touch I assumed that the temperature gauge was reading a little low - now that you have the temperature in the right range perhaps it had been running too cool?
I have been enjoying the great work you have been doing on the 450, it must be inspirational to others contemplating similar work on their car!

 

[BAR]

Again, well done. How nice things look when one spends a small amount of time cleaning and polishing.

Several years ago it took my fancy to brighten up the finish on the rocker covers. I was at a mates place and he had a bench mounted polishing wheel. After 1/2 hr for each cover they looked very bright and shiny. So, in all 1 1/2 hrs work.

Another tip on repairs: the kind captain Styria supplied me a rebuilt fan clutch and along with it tips on the replacement process and he expressed his view that it was a lenghty job. I attacked the task after dinner, with the able assistance of my sugical aid (son) to pass tools and offer an extra pair of hands from time to time. The job was done in 1 3/4 hrs in my garage with no more than two 13 mm spanners (one bing a ratchet ring and open end spanner).

Main trick I found was to loosen the four retaining bolts of the fan, before loosening the power steering V-Belts. This was contrary to the advice of Styria, but hey, when changing a wheel, one does the dame thing: loosen nuts and then jack up wheel.

Another thing that caught me out, was that when moving the power steering pump (ever so slightly to release the tension on the V-Belts), it casued one of the hydraulic line retaining nuts to become loose. The result, power steering fluid being pumped out of the system through the loosened nut. I became aware of this when the pump started 'griding' when I was driving along the road.

So for the rest of you, my tip: Always check the nuts on the hydraulic lines whenever the power steering pump is moved: even if you don't touch these lines!

 

[Mercules]

Would you recommend going through this process (short of replacing the pump if it was still ok) for anyone looking to improve the flow of their cooling system?
(Eg.. was there a heap of gunk restricting it at all?)

With the slow leak and an ever-increasing dilution of the coolant, it has never really run at the correct temperature - whilst I can't find a logical reason for it, the engine just feels better

I think having flushed out all the crap, used high quality long-life coolant with new hoses, pump & thermostat is definately piece of mind! One less thing to worry about on an old car!

 

[Styria]

Well done, BAR, that time span is about right....however, you forgot to mention the 10mm spanners you must have used........

These jobs are normally quite straight forward - just a matter of nuts and bolts. What can happen however, is when those 10mm bolts are slightly rounded off, or are very tight to undo..these are the sort of obstacles that can change the time factor considerably. Main thing now is that the reconditioned viscuous clutch is doing its job for you. Regards Styria

 

[BAR]

WHatho Cap'n Styria: What 10mm spanner [ratchet or otherwise]?

Men just need to use their fingers [and avoid the kryptonite].

Must drive around to you and drop off the dirty old unit for reconditionitiong.

Thanks again.