Thread: sbc water pump issue

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Hi all i'm new here and looking for some advice.

I have a 72 350 chevy truck that had worn water pump bearings (short pump)so i just replaced it with a new unit ( not a rebuilt per the parts guy) it spun ok after i bolted it up to the block.

During this time i also converted my alt to an internal regulated unit, i had a little bit of pulley missalignment before the replacement which i beleve was responsible for the wp and alternator bearings going. After the new alt was installed there was a little more missalignment than before.

I had to stop there and got back after a 2 hour drive around the engine was making a low sounding squeel or some kind of rubbing sound, not a metalic scraping or growling, I thought the pulley missalignment was causing the alt to make the noise so i pulled the alt belt off and spun the alt by hand, nice and smooth and no bad sounds at all. I spun the fan blade and i could hear a squeel, reminded me of the sound i had when my main seal dried up, steady sound spinning the fan one direction, intermitant spinning the other direction, kind of drags a bit but feels smooth.

The back of the pump does touch the timing cover which is a chrome aftermarket unit, i am not sure if this is normal for them to touch?

Is it possible for a bit of pulley missalignment to cause this noise? I did shim out the alt bracket before i buttoned it back up again but still made the noise.

Could it be possible that if this is in fact a beand new waterpump that the seal could have dried out?

Any advice would be appreciated, i'm not looking foward to replacing a brand new water pump right after i installed it.

Thanks!!

Do you have antifreeze installed ?

Antifreeze also contains the lube for the seals in it along with other properties ......

Could be a bad pump seal.....could also be the pump touching as you said........nothing should be rubbing or touching inside of the pump.

Have you got any farther along with this yet ?

My first thought is that when you crank down the water pump bolts, you are pressing the rear of the pump into that fosdick offshore cover and either warping the housing or pressing the rear plate into the impeller. Remove the cover, throw it over the fence and install a gennie Chevy cover.

Never, ever, ever, never, never have I ever seen any of those offshore chrome pieces of any description work like you want them to. The chromed oil pans are the worst. They're Chinese junk, plain and simple. JUNK, JUNK, JUNK.

One thing better Tec Chrome dip sticks talk about leak

Chrome thermostat housings - YIKES!!!!!

David

I just bought a 383 roller motor from Patriot performance, had to loose all of the cheep tin, pan, and timing cover before the oil leaks and noise stopped.

Originally Posted by Dsprint2000

Chrome thermostat housings - YIKES!!!!!
David

Wow David, you're right. First thing you want to do before attempting no leaks with one of those things is to go to church...

I see a lot of people moaning about chinease junk and its slightly unfair really, They will copy and supply exactly what is asked for, If you specify cheap thats what you get, However if you specify quality you will get it, Its not the chinease you need to moan at but the firms that are giving them the drawings and spec i'm afraid.

Originally Posted by roadster32

I see a lot of people moaning about chinease junk and its slightly unfair really, They will copy and supply exactly what is asked for, If you specify cheap thats what you get, However if you specify quality you will get it, Its not the chinease you need to moan at but the firms that are giving them the drawings and spec i'm afraid.

The Chinese have a reputation for cheating on the quality of a product as time goes by also. Metal quality in crankshafts comes to mind. That's why Callies teamed up with Compstar.

Ditto on that Chinese Crap. I installed a March System on the coupe when I was building it. I just noticed while installing a new fan that the water pump rear plate is rusted over. I plan to contact March and express my thoughts. I paid a hefty sum for that system and even if they agree to replace the pump,can you imagine the work to pull the front end off and change it out??? A dollar to a doughnut that it's Chinese manufactured.

It's called "Fine china"...... Not!

Pat

For the OP----good thing that you live in the far northwest since you choose a screen name like SWAMP RAT---------