I replaced my water pump in May with a Meziere pump. It was working fine until several days ago when I was driving to work. The car overheated and when I checked the pump wasn't running. I have a monitor that tells me if the fuse or relay fails but it indicated there was power to the pump. I had to have the car towed home. When I checked the power connection to the pump I was getting 12 volts so I knew the power and ground were good. I figured the motor must have gone . As I plugged the connector back into the pump it started working. I jiggled the cable from the pump to the connector and the pump would cut out and I could hear a grinding noise inside the pump. I called Meziere and talked to tech support. They knew immediately what had happened. He said the wire inside the pump had become disconnected and that this had happened on several pumps they sell. He said I could ship it back for repair or try the repair myself which was opening the case and reconnecting the loose wire to the brushes. I decided to try it myself. I removed the pump and opened the case and this is what I found:

If you notice the positive (blue) wire going to the clip on the brush has the insulation torn off. I found the clip to be loose on the brush and it had been arcing on the brush clip. Obviously the noise was the wire making contact with the commutator. Notice also how the wires are secured in the back of the case. They put a blob of RTV sealant on the board holding the brushes and bed the wires into the RTV. The wires don't even seem to be securely bedded. Apparently on mine the wires worked loose allowing the clip to loosen and the wire to contact the spinning commutator. I repaired it by replacing the clips and resecuring them on the brushes and using more RTV sealant to secure the wires to the plate holding the brushes. I debated using epoxy for this but I thought if I ever need to change or repair the wires again I would probably ruin the plate trying to get them loose although I'm not real comfortable with the RTV approach. I got the pump back together and it has been running fine for the past couple of days.
I believe the pump to be a good product. The motor seems to be well built and the brushes showed very little wear after 3 mo. of daily driving. However, there have been several issues with Meziere that have been mentioned before ( cheap electrical connector and poor quality relay when they supplied them). This is the first I've heard or read about internal failures but the company seemed to be aware of this problem. I think when we pay more than $200.00 for a product that not only can leave us stranded if it fails but at the least requires a tow and at worst can damage the engine they should really look at re-engineering the way these wires are secured in the case. I have e-mailed them with my experience. If anyone else experiences this you should do the same. If it does happen to you, you can e-mail me. I took pictures of the repair and can give you details.

 

Hey man, Thanks for the heads up. So far, mine is working great. You are right, that they should have paid more attention to the electrical connectors. I butt connected the pump to my system instead of that cheap plug, until I find a good quality weatherpack plug. You are the first I've heard that had a problem. You did have the heavy duty pump?. Again, thanks for the heads up. :cheers:

 

Thanks for the great info, but now you have got me concerned! BH

 

Sorry to hear about your problem, I've been on the Meziere fence for awhile...Great info, good post!

 

Good info! :thumbs:

 

Hey supelund, I guess you fell off the fence after reading this thread. I guess all products have their problems in production. One thing, it's easier to replace a Mez pump than an OEM one.

 

No, still on the fence. I'm actually leaning towards one. My plan is to install the warning circut & carry an extra pump. After reading his post I'd probably just open mine up & make sure the wires were properly retained prior to the install. I agree they are a nice piece...hopefully they will take note & revise the wire retainer design.

 

You may want to consider a different design on your warning circuit. The one I use monitors the current not voltage. I got this design from a guy on CamaroZ28.com

Take a look at this design below.
http://mywebpages.comcast.net/khartn...02/circuit.htm




[Modified by ericcer, 8:45 PM 8/24/2003]

 

[QUOTE]
Take a look at this design below.
http://mywebpages.comcast.net/khartn...02/circuit.htm [QUOTE]

This sounds great, but it's above my electronic wizardry. It'd be nice to be able to buy a black box with this stuff in it and just connect the required leads.

confused:

 

I feel your pain, I was one of the first to have the same failure. I gotr stranded on a raceday and had to be flatbedded home.
I sent mine back to Meziere and they made the repair but I believe I may have been the first, Thats was almot 2 years ago and the pump still isn't on the car, I just don't trust it.

 

3 years and same pump is running great.
:cheers:

 

Well at least you didnt have to buy a new one :D

 

I just installed mine.
Thanks for the info! :thumbs: