Jeffwilson34

So tonight I was heading out and was out on a back road with a long straight run that you can see miles ahead. I have been having problems with it running rich because of an O2 wiring mishap so I decided to clear any carbon that may be built up in the exhaust. Nothing crazy just a bit if fun. 5 minutes later I sell coolant and notice my temp gauge is at 220
Luckily there was a truck stop right before I was about to hit the interstate. I pulled in off to the side and popped the hood and saw something I have never saw before. (see Pic) I 1st thought the radiator hose had came off the water pump but that was not the case.
The outlet from the water pump that goes to the top radiator hose had came out if the pump. My hose was still firmly attached to the outlet but the outlet was no longer part of the pump. I was 10 miles from home so I put the outlet back into the pump and hit it as well as I could with a 1/2 ratchet to try and reseat it. I fired the motor up and hit 400RPM and it came back out.
I then put 1 round of electrical tape around it so it fit tighter. The with several zip ties attached to the hose clamp and then back to several parts on the engine that I could get them around pulled all snug and tight, along with 5 gallons of spare water from the hot side of the faucet. I will never put cool water in a hot engine and cringe when I see someone doing it. My fix held good and it did not drip a bit on the way home I even got on it when I was 1/4 mile from home.
I did not take a pic of my fix with the wire ties but now winch I had so I could submit it to the redneck repair website. I did take a pic of the pump and outlet.
It is a nice warm 73 degrees here tonight 1st day of winter LOL
I went ahead and removed the pump and plan on installing a new one tomorrow.
Last night after getting my O2 sensor wiring fixed my belt broke while I was driving pretty hard and somehow grabbed the wire or mass air sensor and ripped them out and broke the plug. last month the radiator let coolant and transmission fluid mix when the seal inside it broke which ended up killing the transmission causing a rebuild but I added a shift kit and external transmission cooler and kept the radiator with the transmission lines plugged off because coolant was coming out of them. Then soon after the transmission was fixed I got reduced engine power and DIC codes for the Throttle position sensor days of trouble shooting someone told me to take the sensor wires as far back as I cold from the plug and pull each one and see if any give. Sure enough 2 of them stretched the others were firm.
The wires had broken inside the insulation but the insulation looked perfect. After Not been a good 2 months

But I have to admit the car has never failed to get me home, sometimes slowly but it did make it even with water in the transmission which I did not know was the problem till I looked in the overflow coolant container and saw red foam.
Can not complain with 301,500 miles on her.

LoneStarFRC

Wow, first time I have seen that particular issue. That steel sleeve is normally pressed pretty tight into the aluminum casting.

Is it safe to assume that's not the OE water pump? If not, is it a GM (or Delco) replacement pump or a generic, auto-parts store brand? Quality can definitely vary between brands.

hoosiervette

Wow, never seen anything like that before. Glad you were able to make it home okay. That's what happens when you take a garage queen out of her castle.

Jeffwilson34

It is a Autozone pump which means Chinese junk most likely.
I am picturing an electric pump in her future
The poor queen does not know what her castle looks like.
Her home is on the road. I think I made her set 3 weeks tracking down the bad wire pi$$ed her off so she is repaying me.

I apologized to her and even bought her 4 new tires as an early Christmas gift last week.
But she did get me home safe and sound.

Vetteman Jack

Glad you were able to get the car home after the water pump problem and hope no more issues pop up with the car. And that car must hardly ever sit still with 300K+ miles on it.

LoneStarFRC

Sounds like a road-warrior for sure.

Camjamsdad

300,000 miles is no garage queen. More like a 50 year old prostitute who should have been retired at 25

JR-01

Go with an OEM replacement. It will last as long as the car. Electric water pumps bring with them a whole new set of potential problems.

Jeffwilson34

I have a video on youtube, when she clicked to 300,000 she hit 160MPH
Had lots more but I ran out of runway,

Jeffwilson34

Thanks for the advice, I will get a OEM.
I think the pressure I was throwing at it right before it popped was more than those cheap made pumps are designed for.

Not saying anything else to keep the thread from being locked.

JR-01

I believe it was probably a factory defect. One of those one in a million things. Probably the last one assembled on a Friday afternoon.

warlock007

weird, How did the water in tranny happen?

JR-01

I just read that. That could be a big problem.

92GA

Why not just thread the outlet like a lot of electric pumps are? Many places sell the adapter for the hose. That pressed in fitting can come out of any pump that uses them. Most every electric pump I've seen has a threaded outlet.

JR-01

This is a one and a million shot and will not happen again with an OEM pump.

Jeffwilson34

the seal between the coolant and transmission fluid in the radiator failed.
The shop said it happens a lot but mostly it is a small leak and slowly kills the transmission, Mine blew completely, which he said he never saw one allow transmission fluid into the coolant. Without the plugs on the transmission lines water will flow out of them. I had to replace both radiator hoses a week after the transmission because they popped but I attributed that to the transmission fluid being in the cooling system. It took a few hours with the thermostat out and a water hose running clean water through it to clean the fluid fully out of it. Then I ran a couple cans of radiator flush through it and repeated the procedure to flush it good.
That brings up the question was that pump somehow putting too much pressure somehow? I know a blown head gasket could blow air into the cooling system but I my friend has the kit to test for traces of exhaust gas in the coolant I tested it after the transmission was fixed to be sure because the shop said it was odd for the radiator to fail like it did. I have no coolant in the oil and had too top off coolant after bleeding all the air out the 1st day,

mojo1

I am debating if I should get a new water pump while I have the motor out, but dang I am replacing so much other stuff its already way more than I wanted to spend.

Jeffwilson34

Water pumps on the c5 are very easy to replace. It can be done in about 30-45 minutes easy.

I removed mine last night with a small flashlight, straight screwdriver. pair of pliers a ratchet and 3 sockets. It was off in 15 minutes.

no need to get a new one on something that easy to replace if it is working.
If it does die, the car can be driven several miles with no water and not harm the engine, according to the owner book.

mojo1

Good to know, thanks !

JR-01

I guess it depends how many miles are on the car. If there are a lot, I would replace it as long as I had the engine out. They are pretty cheap and you never know where you will be when it fails.