Weep from water pump shaft

[VicS]

The repair kit, containing the seals, bearing, shaft, impeller and gasket, is under £200. A new pump is over £500. I'd try repairing it.

I'm puzzled by the pricing

The bearing alone appears to be over €700 but is apparently included in a repair kit costing only a little more than €200

( complete pump is under €900 )

Ive missed something or the OP is in for a shock !

 

[Heckler]

Photos of the repair kit seem to suggest that the seal is already assembled on the shaft and bearing.

OK, the ceramic seal butts up against the housing, people usually dont have access to professional presses that can get the shaft/bearing/seal to the correct position with the right tension/compression in the ceramic/carbon bit and end up tapping it in to position which usually ends in tears! Dont forget the pulley flange and impellor has to be got in to position as well. I started repairing stuff like this over 50 years ago, Ive seen a few tears!

 

[pvb]

I'm puzzled by the pricing

The bearing alone appears to be over €700 but is apparently included in a repair kit costing only a little more than €200

( complete pump is under €900 )

Ive missed something or the OP is in for a shock !

No, I think the price for the bearing alone is a bit of VP wishful thinking! The whole repair kit is under £200, the complete new pump is just over £500 (don't know where you got your 900 euro price from).

 

[VicS]

No, I think the price for the bearing alone is a bit of VP wishful thinking! The whole repair kit is under £200, the complete new pump is just over £500 (don't know where you got your 900 euro price from).

http://www.marinepartseurope.com/en/volvo-penta-3812236-circulation-pump.aspx


but Volspec look a lot less ! although they still seem to have the repair kit priced at more than the whole pump

 

[Bodach na mara]

£500 for a new water pump!!! I am beginning to see why the engineer who is replacing my VP 2003 (with a Beta 30 by the way) said that there is cash in the old engine. For anyone interested, my engine failed because the crankshaft seal leaked all the oil into the flywheel casing and hence to the bilge. The engineers (I consulted two) both said it is not economically repairable, and looking at Volvo Penta prices I can see why, hence the Beta replacement. Bits that are probable useless are the crankshaft, block and pistons. The rest, including a BM-modified gearbox, is probably re-usable. I will know more when I strip it down.

 

[pvb]

For anyone interested, my engine failed because the crankshaft seal leaked all the oil into the flywheel casing and hence to the bilge. The engineers (I consulted two) both said it is not economically repairable, and looking at Volvo Penta prices I can see why, hence the Beta replacement.

When I suspected a similar crankshaft seal failure on my old 2003T, the VP dealer reckoned they could fix it in situ by using a Speedi-Sleeve. In the end, this wasn't needed as it was in fact an oil cooler leak.

 

[charles_reed]

If it's a raw water pump kits are easily available - in practice I carry a spare, and just change that over - bearing and seal replacement cost me €18 in Khios, the last time I did it.
If its the coolant circulation pump, I'm very surprised - they're usually bulletproof.
If it is coolant (not seawater) I'd be very suspicious that the pressure cap was not releasing and as a result overpressuring the coolant system - as he doesn't mention the engine type it's difficult to not be as uncertain as he is.

 

[VicS]

If it's a raw water pump kits are easily available - in practice I carry a spare, and just change that over - bearing and seal replacement cost me €18 in Khios, the last time I did it.
If its the coolant circulation pump, I'm very surprised - they're usually bulletproof.
If it is coolant (not seawater) I'd be very suspicious that the pressure cap was not releasing and as a result overpressuring the coolant system - as he doesn't mention the engine type it's difficult to not be as uncertain as he is.

"Volvo Penta 2003" were the first three words in #1

Mention of "coolant" implies an indirectly cooled one

Mention of " pulley wheel " means it is the coolant circulation pump, not the sea water pump as that is directly driven

 

[RichardS]

If its the coolant circulation pump, I'm very surprised - they're usually bulletproof.
If it is coolant (not seawater) I'd be very suspicious that the pressure cap was not releasing and as a result overpressuring the coolant system - as he doesn't mention the engine type it's difficult to not be as uncertain as he is.

Volvo 2003?

When you say that coolant circulating pumps are "bulletproof" I assume that you mean "bulletproof on marine engines" as I would say that I have had to change the coolant circulation pump at some stage on probably 50% of the cars I have owned over the last 50 years. Presumably that would also mean that marinised vehicle engines are also similarly affected?

Richard

 

[Tintin]

If it's a raw water pump kits are easily available - in practice I carry a spare, and just change that over - bearing and seal replacement cost me €18 in Khios, the last time I did it.
If its the coolant circulation pump, I'm very surprised - they're usually bulletproof.
If it is coolant (not seawater) I'd be very suspicious that the pressure cap was not releasing and as a result overpressuring the coolant system - as he doesn't mention the engine type it's difficult to not be as uncertain as he is.

Hi Charles, it's the coolant pump not the impeller raw water pump.

And as it's now 30 years old I'm prepared to forgive it

 

[kalanka]

A few years ago I had an overheating problem on a VP 2003 that I traced to the circulation pump. At that time I thought it best to hand the repair over to a VP specialist who installed the repair kit.

Some months later the overheating problem returned but only intermittently. Couldn't be the newly repaired circulation pump could it?

Eventually, and after resorting to an IR thermometer on various parts of the cooling system it became clear that the fault was indeed at the circulation pump. On dismantling all looked well but after much fiddling about it became clear that the impeller was push fitted to the shaft. At normal revs no problem occurred but at high revs it started to slip. The VP professionals eventually agreed to replace.....

I now tend to do such jobs myself.

So if you dismantle the unit and install the kit double check that the impeller is absolutely solid on the shaft.

 

[Bodach na mara]

When I suspected a similar crankshaft seal failure on my old 2003T, the VP dealer reckoned they could fix it in situ by using a Speedi-Sleeve. In the end, this wasn't needed as it was in fact an oil cooler leak.

I know that the 2003T has an oil cooler and the first engineer I saw suggested it as the source of the leak but I said I did not think the non-turbo 2003 had a cooler. After inspection he said the leak was from the seal, that the shaft was probably scored and the bearings were knocking, probably due to my maltreatment. In order to get into the marina, I refilled the engine with the only oil I had:- the stuff pumped out of the bilge. I must clarify that the bilge below the engine is separate from the other bilges and was clean and dry before the leak.

Since the inspection something puzzles me. I have sucked over 10 litres of fluid from that bilge. It has no water in it but has something lighter than engine oil, probably Jizer or something. But the oil capacity of the 2003 is only 4.5 litres!


I am surprised at the references in this thread to the low cost of repairing the raw water pump ($18 I think). I did that job last winter and it cost over £70 in parts from Volspec. It needed the kit including shaft as the shaft was scored. Well they usually are when the seal goes. The kit came with only 1 of the shaft seals! The other one is part of a second kit, but I got it elsewhere. I also needed rubber seals for the water pipes which must be renewed when disturbed.

Ken

 

[charles_reed]

I am surprised at the references in this thread to the low cost of repairing the raw water pump ($18 I think). I did that job last winter and it cost over £70 in parts from Volspec. It needed the kit including shaft as the shaft was scored. Well they usually are when the seal goes. The kit came with only 1 of the shaft seals!

In fact it was a Johnson pump and the charge was in €.
My impression is that anything in the VP spares range has a date added in to boost margins - they also have a deliberate faulty design-feature to see if you (the owner) are on your toes.
Most VP parts are externally sourced (after all the motor is usually a small Perkins) and the OE manufacturer will usually be 35% of the agent-price.
I'm glad I've never had a Volvo engined boat.