Water Pumb Bad or Bad Installation?

[katsi]

Purchased a new water pump from Auto Zone on Friday and installed it. Also put in new radiator and altinator while I was at it. Anyway, when I fired it up to check things out, I herd a ringing noise. I listened for about 30 seconds and determined it was comming from the new pump. I pulled off the pully as it was the quickest way to get access to the pump and turned it by hand. Seems that when it turns it hits or grinds against something. You can tell that about 4 of the impellers to the pump are hitting against the block somewhere (turns free then click, click, click, click). Did I do something wrong or did I just get a bad pump? It came with a thin paper type gasket. Could that be the clearance problem? I remember correctly it was only supposed to have about 14lbs of tork on each bolt which is not a lot.

Thoughts??

[htchevyii]

Soinds like the pump is made wrong, or there's a build up of rust and crud in the block?

[katsi]

No rust in the block - I was actually quite pleased on how clean it was in there. I've gotten some response locally and it seems that this is not an isolated issue. No advice on the fix yet. I will keep everyone posted so nobody has to go through this.

[manoa matt]

Its fouling on the water jacket around cylinder #1. The bolt holes in the pump are a larger diameter than the bolts themselves. Loosen the bolts and try to slide the pump towards the exhaust side a little bit. Yes you should use the paper gasket, I light coating of silicone RTV on each side of the gasket will help seal it up and provide a bit more clearance.

The bolts should have copper washers under the heads and put some anti-sieze on the threads that go into the block.

[katsi]

Matt, you could be right and I will definatly check this out. I think I may have described it incorrectly though. The ringing is more of a hiss like it has a turbo on it. Kind of that constant high piched wizz or whirl you hear comming from a turbo charged motor. Also, the pump TURNS FREELY WITHOUT ANY INTERFERIENCE for about 90% of the rotation. It's just a small part that actually makes contact. Never the less, if the pump moves towards the exhause, it will probably void the clearance issue i'm having. Thanks for the input.

[manoa matt]

What type of impeller does the pump have? Stamped steel GMB pump, or the standard cast iron impeller

The hiss could be the bearings and seals in the pump bedding in, or the drive belt could be rubbing somehow. Are you sure you installed the pulley facing the right direction, how does it all line up?

[pope]

A slightly better bolt sealant is Loctite High Temp. thread sealant, whenever the bolts go through the block to areas where they contact oil or water. It is a thick white paste in a tube that has some plastic properties that seal the threads from leaks. Anti-seize is great everywhere else.

[katsi]

Just to let you all know. The problem was the pump and not the installation. I guess buying a pump from the local auto zone was not a good idea. It's and inferiority issue. I talked to some other guys locally and they said that they had the same problem. They also said that if I grind down the offending impeller bits that will take care of it and still function properly. Just make sure to take enough off to account for expansion of the impeller when hot and the loostening of the berings when warmed up. What a pain in the ass. Not worth the 15 bucks I saved by going to the local place.

My advise on this - make sure your water pump is a GMB

[mbouse]

It's and inferiority issue.

i had an inferiority issue once, but then i thought better about it.

Saving cash is a trademark of Fiat ownership. sometimes we get caught, sometimes we get lucky. sounds like you got caught this time.

[katsi]

Just and update for anyone who is interested. I received the new Solari pump in the mail (11.99 shipping from Vics Autoparts). Bolted it on and everything works as it should. No clearance issues. I guess the aftermarket stuff from the local autoparts stores are just not up to code. Visually, their is no difference between the pumps - Go fugure.