Date: Wed, 2 Jan 2013 08:38:00 -0700
Reply-To: zmaninco@YAHOO.COM
Sender: Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com>
From: Zoran Mladen <zmaninco@YAHOO.COM>
Subject: Re: Water Pump life on a 1.9
In-Reply-To: <50E58B1A.1060400@comcast.net>
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Te other thing to consider is the belt tightness. Over tightening the alt belt will have a significant impact on the life of the pump and will cause premature failure. The more over tightened it is...the sooner it will fail. The belt should be snug with no more than about an inch of up and down movement at the middle of the pulleys, tighter than that and it is over tightened.
Z
Sent from my iPad
On Jan 3, 2013, at 6:43, Ken Wilford <kenwilfy@COMCAST.NET> wrote:
> I have a theory that if you are seeing water pump failures at low
> mileage over and over then your radiator is most likely restricted. If
> your replacement pump lasts over 50k miles I am not talking to you or to
> folks that had a dud pump that died quickly but they haven't had
> problems since. I am talking to those folks who have pumps fail every
> 20k miles or less. If you are having this problem, and the radiator is
> original, I would replace it along with the pump the next time. As the
> radiator gets restricted with age and sludge build up, it is just like
> your arteries in your body. It makes the pump work harder and it wears
> out faster. Most people don't think of the radiator as a wear item but
> they are. I have replaced so many over the years and they have made a
> world of difference to the cooling system of the van. When you pull the
> old one out it weighs 10 lbs more (empty) than the new one. That is all
> orange looking sludge.
>
> Just FYI.
>
> Ken Wilford
> John 3:16
> www.vanagain.com
>
> On 1/1/2013 6:49 PM, Richard Koerner wrote:
>> FYI Just replaced water pump on my 85 1.9 engine with 203,000 miles. No leak, but had that rumble-sound I heard once before long ago so knew what it was. All back to silky smooth now. Original factory one lasted 118,000 miles; second one lasted 85,000 miles. I did have one overheating event due to a broken water pump belt about 20,000 miles ago...not sure if that affected life of second pump.
>>
>> So I guess if you're in that 85,000 mile range since you last replaced water pump, might be wise to keep your ears tuned for the rumbling indicating failure soon, bad news if far away from home.
>>
>> Rich
>> San Diego
>>
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