Thread: Need Some Electric Water Pump Coaching

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Looking to purchase a waterpump on next parts order for my 383 race only stroker. I'm not familiar with electric water pumps but have been doing a little bit reading up on them today. Had some rookie questions:

1. I figure electric is the way to go, correct? I figure the pump could still be running when the car is off, waiting for its turn to race? I know I'd gain a few hp too.

2. A friend of mine emailed me that without running an electric pump, consistency for dialing would not be there. Can someone elaborate on that for me, or explain it? His email is not working good today.

3. I plan to run an alternator on the drag motor. Am i looking at a pain in the but on anything by running electric water pump..? I'm also thinking i can just run a belt from crank pulley to alternator?

4. Any w.pump part # recommendations?

Thanks

My first answer - will be a question.. are you going to bracket race?
In regards to question 2, I will disagree with your friends approach, shutting off the pump to gain less than 10 per cent horse power ( and then heating the block / heads to different temps each run ) this is no way to create consistency!

imho, run a stock type pump with a 180 or 185 high quality thermostat, not some cheapy 2 or 3 dollar piece from NAPA either! In this way each run will have the motor at the same temp range. The water pump uses minimal horsepower but will allow you to build the consistancy you seek

Removing variables that can change is the key to consistency, keep a log book with data from each run. air temp, humidity, altitude, tire pressure, etc. etc.

Most of all , have fun with it! LOL.

I agree with Mike on a stock type water pump and a quality thermostat. I also like a tapped thermostat housing for the temperature sender so I know the exact temperature of the water leaving the block.

A good aluminum water pump from Weiand or Edelbrock with an under drive pulley will give you back anything you may gain with an electric pump and be less money as well.

My 2 cents - and ditto on the have fun part as well!!

Glenn

I'll throw in one comment on losses. If you run an alternator like you said, the HP used to spin the alternator to drive the electric pump (and fan?) will be very near equal to the HP used to spin the belt driven water pump and fan, provided your fan has a working clutch. You're applying energy to get rid of heat and it's going to take the same energy whether you're belt driven or electric motor driven. There's no free energy source in an electric motor.

My .02 on the alternator:
I recall reading that the extra voltage to the ignition system offsets the power loss of driving the alternator. But probably not if you are pulling high amps.

It might be interesting to have a cut out relay for the alternator output- isolate the alternator output to the ignition for the run. That would remove the bulk of the parasitic power loss. The battery can run the accessories for the duration of the run.

On my pr stocker-I ran an edelbrock alum pump with a moroso belt drive to a little 12v motor-it pretty much just circulated the fluid to even the temps thru out the block/heads-

Recharged battery every run while running valve settings and other work-refueling cell every 2 runs, tire service----ran a 110v fan in front of radiator and would run the 12v moroso every now and then to circulate h2o to radiator ( VW alum rad)

Only thing running on front of crank was ign cranl trigger pickup---don't think that was much of an load

Originally Posted by 34_40

My first answer - will be a question.. are you going to bracket race?
In regards to question 2, I will disagree with your friends approach, shutting off the pump to gain less than 10 per cent horse power ( and then heating the block / heads to different temps each run ) this is no way to create consistency!

imho, run a stock type pump with a 180 or 185 high quality thermostat, not some cheapy 2 or 3 dollar piece from NAPA either! In this way each run will have the motor at the same temp range. The water pump uses minimal horsepower but will allow you to build the consistancy you seek

Removing variables that can change is the key to consistency, keep a log book with data from each run. air temp, humidity, altitude, tire pressure, etc. etc.

Most of all , have fun with it! LOL.

So you guys believe that by running a mechanical pump, this should be the way I go? What about when I'm in the staging lanes and the car is not running, would the electric fan be enough to keep the motor cool for me? Thannks,

Robert, I'll give you my take on the whole mess. I have seen too many guys have this trick setup and that double-throwdown setup and then forget to charge the battery in the pits and be out of juice for the final or fail to fire for some other reason. I'm a simple guy who likes "bulletproof" when running brackets and that means running a 190/195 degree thermostat, engine-driven fan, 7-blade, 18", thermostatically-controlled fan clutch, huge radiator, full shroud and a VERY LARGE battery positioned directly behind the right rear wheel, using welding cable for lines and soldering the ends on. At any given moment, you should be able to key the switch and drive the car home, after a rear tire change of course. Bulletproof EVERY time means less work and worry for your brain so you can concentrate on reaction times. So what if you go 10.80 instead of 10.60, what difference does it make? It matters not how quick or how slow the car is in bracket racing, so make it bulletproof and go have fun.

.

6 guys from across the country all said the same thing.
Not one person says to run any electric cooling component.

But 50% of those queried said to HAVE FUN!

Thank you for the advice and thanks to one forum member in particular too who i have greatest respect for, whose guided and helped me a lot through this build process. I went with everyone's advice and went the mechanical pump route. So my next question i have is this: My Dad and I question that we will have the clearance needed when we drop motor, to run a clutch fan with the set up on drag car as the aftermarket radiator is tilted. So i asked a friend of mine if running the mech pump without clutch fan/blade fan, with radiator and electric fan would give me the cooling I need. He stated, yes if i have an adequate radiator and electric fan, I would be fine. I have no reason to doubt him but also like to hear what other people who are smarter than me have to say. Any thoughts on this? Thanks!

Sure, while running a mechanical fan & clutch is foolproof and more reliable, sometimes there's just not room. Get a good quality fan (I like SPAL, myself) and a good fan controller, either on/off based on a temperature switch, or programmable running off of an analog coolant sensor. You can make a great shroud with a sheet of aluminum, standing off of the rear of the core an inch, with a fan sized cutout and you're good to go. Put your fan wherever you need it for clearance, biased high, low or centered (best). Some guys like the direct mount, with the fan held in contact with the core using plastic push through retainers, but a standoff shroud pulls air through the whole core area - better IMO.

The radiator in my 76 Vette is tilted and it runs a full shroud, would that work on your car?