Waterpump failure

What do you guys think of this. Poor Betty got all hot and bothered the other morning. The damn impeller just spun off the shaft.

I was thinking of tack welding it back in place. Gotta be better than the way it came. This is a "good" Edenbrock victor series aluminum pump. Not a cheep after market 50 buck pump. I'm kinda pissed off about this. I think it should have lasted a lot longer than 15K miles.

Anybody have a though? I don't want to remake all the front dress parts. If I use a different pump I just know all the dimensions will be a little different. But I am worried about spending the money on another one.

Howard -
How about using Loctite? The water pump pulley on my Lotus Esprit came flying off at a most inappropriate time and it turned out the engine builder had used antisieze instead of Loctite. I would think using loctitie on the impeller would hold it in place just fine and shouldn't impact the balance like welding could.
Dave L

Howard:
The same thing happened to me with a chevy pump back in Feb. It was less than 3 months old, drilling it out and sleeving it, then TIG welding it back in place did the trick.
I think you may want to go for a new pump as the Chevy pumps stand off the motor and there is no chance of damaging the timing cover like a Ford setup.
I would be interested what Edelbrock has to say about that failure, if that impeller was a press fit it may classify as a manufacturer defect as it should have been a pretty tight interference fit. Also having it pinned would add more security.
Good luck whichever way you go
Cheers
Phil

I don't think I would weld it with just any filler material.. That's a Cast Iron impeller and a steel shaft. If you're going to weld it, you'd need to probably use a high nickel content filler material or it will just crack away from the casting..

I think I would consider drilling and pinning the impeller to the shaft, or drill / tap a hole partially in the shaft and partially in the impeller lengthwise down the shaft. Maybe 1/4" diameter andout 3/4" deep..
Turn in a bolt with red loctite on it and then cut the head off the bolt with a small high speed cut-off wheel..

HI I think I would contact Edelbrock R&D Monday they may be interested in this for development studies If you need to speak with an Edelbrock technician by phone, please call 1-800-416-8628 from 7:00am to 5:00pm PST, Monday-Friday. These shafts are normally HARD so drilling will be difficult. If I were to try welding this I would flood the pump and use the tig with no filler rod and 3-4 tacks with a break between them . Welding with the difference in metals will most probably just end up cracking, Then She'll be hot again !!! Not good . Good luck with this and please keep us post on how this works out.

Wally, after reading my welding book I think I agree with you. I will be had to weld it unless I just tack it in 3 places, little 1/8 dia spots. I think I'll give it a try and then really apply some muscle to it and see if it holds. If not then I just replace it.

Howard,
If it was me I'd be on the phone to Edelbrock Monday AM and I think they would have a new out to you ASAP they have been very helpful to me in the past with warranty work, but good luck what ever you do.
Bob

Howard, in your email to Edelbrock explaining the situation you might want to include a link to this thread. Good companies like Edelbrock are always looking for low cost grass-roots opportunities to show their dedication to customers.

I think Edlebrock will supply a new pump and would be interested in hearing what happened to yours.
They have probably already fixed that issue.
Dave

I would have to second( maybe third or fourth by now) the "contact Edelbrock" sentiments. In my opinion that is a manufacturing defect. Since they are press fit. either the shaft is somewhat undersize or the impeller hole is somewhat oversize, possibly a combination of both. They should take care of it.

I cleaned it all up(impeller) so that I could try and tack weld it, it was cracked. the crack radiated from the bore outward. I am sure this was the problem.

By the way, everybody is right, you can't weld cast iron. I tried to heat it up by putting it into very hot water, about 200F, and then filled the casting with the same hot water to cover the bearing and seal while leaving the impeller exposed. Everything was perfectly cleaned. I first tried to fuse weld a tiny spot and no joy, the cast iron just boils away without the shaft even getting to the melting point.

The I tried again with a stainless filler rod. I got this idea from a welding webpage. I tried to keep the piece hot and cool it down slow with a hairdryer on full hot. The joint cracked as soon as the weld color changed from dull red to normal metal color.

You can't, or at least I can't, weld cast iron to steel.

I orderd a new pump from summit, I'll call Edelbrock and see what they say just for the forum's information.

Edelbrock said they would rebuild it for 75 dollars. Not bad I suppose. The new cost is about 150. This pump is about 7 years old and the warrantee is 1 year, but as I said it has very little miles on it.

Maybe I'll send it for rebuild, they said that means all the internals, latter and keep it as a spare.

You could always use this as an opportunity to fit a davis craig water pump and controller.

Put your old water pump back on, minus the impeller, and then mount the new electric water pump in the bottom rad hose.

Just a thought.

At this point I just need to get it back in operation. I want to take it to the track in about three weeks. The belt/pump combo has worked very well up to now and hopefully this was a bad casting.

The other thing is I am spending all my hobbie buget on the SLC. Betty just needs a little doctoring.

HI Howard Thanks for the update, I was hoping for better news on the replacement. I wonder if the new one won't have a stamped steel impeller, Lighter an more forgiving than cast.