water pump LT1
Thread Starter
Safety Car
Joined: Jan 2004
Posts: 4,549
Likes: 343
From: Glastonbury CT
water pump LT1
I wonder what GM was thinking in the design of the water pump. The bearing is so small and where is the lube? Has any one an alternative to this? Does the ZR1 have a similar pump? Was this another low bid item?
Safety Car
Joined: Aug 2002
Posts: 3,842
Likes: 230
From: SANTA CRUZ CA
Melting Slicks
Joined: Jan 2009
Posts: 3,482
Likes: 196
From: folsom california
The "thinking" was that once you remove all the side load from the pump by removing the fan belt and replacing it with a direct gear driven mechanical drive that imparts no side load then you don't need a huge bearing.
Thread Starter
Safety Car
Joined: Jan 2004
Posts: 4,549
Likes: 343
From: Glastonbury CT
The bearings are as small as wheel bearings in my 77 car! They are not self lubed and the race is is as soft as foil you would cook a turkey in. Amazing when you take a wp apart of this vintage pure crap. If it was so well manufacture why do they keep changing design? It all boils down to cost! And to correct my self the bearings in this LT1 wp are half the size of a wheel bearing!
Melting Slicks
Joined: May 2013
Posts: 2,692
Likes: 349
From: Sacramento California
The bearings are as small as wheel bearings in my 77 car! They are not self lubed and the race is is as soft as foil you would cook a turkey in. Amazing when you take a wp apart of this vintage pure crap. If it was so well manufacture why do they keep changing design? It all boils down to cost! And to correct my self the bearings in this LT1 wp are half the size of a wheel bearing!
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Race Director
Joined: Feb 2003
Posts: 11,672
Likes: 20
From: Lake Wylie SC
Okay, I'll jump in here. The OEM pump had a few serious flaws. First the bearing fails around 80K or so. When it does fail, it begins to leak coolant all over your opti spark distributer. So, you'll have to replace the opti which is hard to find and expensive (unless you buy a cheap aftermarket one which won't last very long). My fix was to replace the OEM water pump with a Meziere electric water pump. This involves removing the pump fins from the housing and installing the electric pump. Mine has been installed for around 30K or so which was about 15 years ago. If the electric pump ever fails, it will take about 30 minutes to replace it and it won't get your opti all wet. Check out tech tips for how I did it.
http://web.archive.org/web/200402021....php?TopicID=2
look for Meziere coolant pump install
http://web.archive.org/web/200402021....php?TopicID=2
look for Meziere coolant pump install
Last edited by Strick; Sep 28, 2018 at 03:39 PM. Reason: additional text
Team Owner
Joined: Aug 2004
Posts: 21,543
Likes: 3,216
From: Park City Utah
What is "not very long"? I'm over 2 years on my "cheapie"...that I also doused and then cleand and continued to run.
.
Last edited by Tom400CFI; Sep 28, 2018 at 11:28 PM.