Water pump replacement

[Jonny-Jimbo]

Hi all,

I spent saturday stripping the waterpump off my Vitesse as the gasket had failed and had sprayed rusty water everywhere,

Now then, a few questions;

What's the size of the two nuts on the water rail that goes into the back of the pump? My largest spanner is 3/4, and I don't want to use an adjustable on it.

Also, on the replacement pump I bought today, there's a hole in the cast part of the pump - it looks like it is manufactured that was rather than being a crap casting. My problem is that I can see it'll be a gap that crap will build up in causing the bearing to fail prematurely. If that isn't a problem I can certainly see it being a problem in terms of the spindle rusting up.

So;
1) What size are the nuts
2) Should I attempt to cover the hole or just jam it full of grease etc?

Thanks

[junkuser]

Not sure where the hole is you are referring to but the original pumps had a hole on the bottom side between the pump seal and the bearings to allow any leakage to drain and not enter the bearings.

Then again, this may not have anything to do with the hole you have.

[Jonny-Jimbo]

I shall post a photo when I find my camera then!

[ferny]

Why are you removing the pipe? The water pump (I'm sure you know) is held on by three nuts, the pipe goes into the pump housing which doesn't need to be removed. If you're replacing it becasue you want/have to then just use an adjustable as the replacement pipe will have the nut and olive with it. If you're worried about marking the nut use a clean rag over it.

As far as I know that hole is there to let you know when the seals give up and the pump needs replacing.

[Richard B]

ferny wrote:

just use an adjustable as the replacement pipe will have the nut and olive with it.

  :)


The Pipe Olive nut is 7/16" Whitworth. The Water Pump Housing Adapter is 9/16" Whitworth. The threads are probably British Standard Pipe, BSP.

If you like shiny, Chris Witor does them both in Stainless Steel.


Proper spanners can be found S/H on eBay. Yes the hole is to let out the water if the seal leaks. Point the hole down to avoid blocking it with crap.

[Gt6s]

The hole is called a "tell tale" as said it's to let you know seals have gone.

[uksnatcher]

A brand new pump may 'weep' from the tell tale hole until its bedded in too.