Replacing 4 year old Genuine GM Waterpump w/41K miles

[rdezs]

And for an entirely different option I hadn't considered:
For $289 + shipping Flying Dutchman can rebuild these pumps.

Home

Quality, warranted, rebuilt water pumps for over 20 years. 3 year unlimited mileage warranty! We rebuild and remanufacture water pumps for most import and domestic automobiles, including antiques and classic cars.

www.water-pump-rebuilders.com

To quote Wade, "this style pump is essentially a throw away design and the gigantic rear freeze plug style cover is a joke. It uses a cheap, stamped steel impeller and the front pulley oftentimes must be drilled off the shaft as it typically can't be pulled without damage"

They use USA-made bearings and seals in their rebuilds. I had them rebuild my Pontiac 400 water pump with excellent results several years ago. They also properly clearance the impeller on the shaft so it has maximum pumping efficiency.

Thinking about sending the expired GM pump to them for this service and keep it in reserve for whenever the replacement I install tomorrow fails. Makes using the 100K mile OEM stocker that I saved a much more viable option as I'll have a much better one with USA seals, shaft and bearings in reserve to replace it.

I would have to say I really like that option.

 

[j91z28d1]

does someone like Edelbrock make water pumps for these. I seem to remember they had rebuildable ones for Gen 1 sbc?

being out in the heat, a higher flow aftermarket one might not be a horrible idea

 

[Scrappycrow]

does someone like Edelbrock make water pumps for these

None that are a direct fit, unfortunately.

 

[j91z28d1]

None that are a direct fit, unfortunately.

this wouldn't fit our trucks? says Gen 4 ls.

Water Pump for Gen IV LS Engine 2009-16

Edelbrock #8894 Water Pump Gen IV LS Engine 2009-16 Ideal To Prevent Overheating In Street Rods And Street Machines

www.edelbrock.com

pricey thou.

 

[mikez71]

The instructions say it's for cars.
I believe there's some variations between car and truck waterpumps..

 

[Scrappycrow]

this wouldn't fit our trucks? says Gen 4 ls.

Water Pump for Gen IV LS Engine 2009-16

Edelbrock #8894 Water Pump Gen IV LS Engine 2009-16 Ideal To Prevent Overheating In Street Rods And Street Machines

www.edelbrock.com

Note the lack of heater hose fittings.

 

[KC 2013 Tahoe]

So I went ahead and installed the Murray HD pump on Saturday morning. It's specifically made for vehicles that still use a mechanical cooling fan. It's made in MX and supposed to have better bearings to support the added load of a mechanical fan/clutch. Time will tell...
Our Tahoe has dual electric fans, no mechanical fan, so hoping this one lasts much longer.

The 41K mile GM pump appears to have been slowly leaking for a long time given the dried-up/crusty Dexcool on its underside.
Was surprised to see the T-Stat that came with the GM pump was made in Japan. I'll consider that a bonus! Was just 4 years old, so went ahead and transferred it and it's housing onto the new Murray pump. The tensioner and idler pulley were new with the pump and were made by our friends up in Canada, also a bonus in my book. Both pulleys rolled freely, so left them be.

The new Murray pump came with fiber gaskets, so got a set of Fel-Pro aluminum bodied/O-ringed gaskets which I trust much better.
After removal of the old pump, thoroughly flushed and drained block, front/rear heater cores, radiator, coolant reservoir and hoses, blowing them through with compressed air. Re-flushed everything with distilled water and installed new pump, torquing the 6 bolts to 22ft/lbs. Refilled system with the Prestone version of Dexcool. Used 3 gallons of the full strength stuff, plus 2 gallons of distilled water. Burped the system and has reached equilibrium with the "Full" mark after 3 or so hot to cold cycles on Saturday PM/Sunday AM. No leaks or antifreeze odor! Entire Pump R&R, cooling system flush and initial fill/burp took ~5 hours start to finish. Wasn't difficult, just a bit time consuming.

Keeping the 41K GM pump in event I choose to have it rebuilt. Will add a few pictures when I have some more time to get them uploaded.

Kevin

 

[Shunto]

So my bride came home last night and as is usual in the summer months here in AZ, she popped the hood and turned on the fan in the garage to vent out the heat.
She noticed a strong antifreeze odor and gave me a shout. Sure enough, the water pump is leaking via the weep hole.

Sadly, the water pump is just 4 years old (replaced it proactively) at 100K miles, along with new stretch belt, serpentine belt, belt tensioner, thermostat, coolant tees, all hoses, new radiator, complete flush of the cooling system and refill with fresh Dexcool. Now at 141K the pump has already failed. As the original pump lasted 100K, thought a new GM pump would last at least that long. (2013 Tahoe, 4WD with the Flex Fuel 5.3L). Guessing I happened to get the 1 in 100 bad pumps they made.

Going to try a non-GM water pump this time. Ordered a fresh Murray pump last night. It includes a new 187° thermostat & housing and has a L/T warranty.
Changing it out isn't all that bad so at least if this one fails, I'll get a free replacement, unlike the GM pump with its 1-year warranty.
Plan to install it Saturday morning and go ahead and flush the cooling system again and install new Dexcool.
Will change out the belts, hoses and tees this fall when it cools down. Our daytime highs are still in the low 100's (Chandler-AZ) and I can take my time to get everything ordered ahead of time.

All that said, anyone have any feedback regarding Murray water pumps? I had used them with great results on Chevy 350's (Gen-2 Camaro's), so figure I'll give them a try on my bride's 5.3 LS.

Kevin

I'm dating the wrong kind of Woman... My Lovely would clear leather with a perfume Bottle to make the antifreeze smell go away.

 

[rdezs]

You can save some time in the future by spending 30 or $40 on a vacuum fill kit. Actually, most newer vehicles require it as a method of replacing the coolant. You do need an air compressor to run it. It basically sucks all the air out of the system, then draws the antifreeze in all the way to the top with no air pockets left in the engine. (Air pockets, even for 30 minutes with the engine running.... Can result in those areas experiencing extreme overheating and warping or cracking hardware) the nice thing is there's no waiting to burp it and topping it off. Only takes a couple minutes.

Also, on the LS engine like on many v8s, the only way to do a proper flush and completely drain the block is to remove the drain plugs on each side of the engine. If you don't do that and you used a chemical flush, you probably have a half gallon or more of that mixture that was left in the block when you started adding coolant.

The time to do the flush is before you remove the old water pump. Get the fitting where you can attach a hose in a Tee into one of the heater hoses, run the engine with the hose turned on and your reservoir cap off. Give it at least 15 or 20 minutes to make sure you got all the chemical mix out of it. Then when mixing your antifreeze, calculate at least one half gallon of water already in the engine after draining the radiator and removing the water pump. (More if you have the rear HVAC. I like to blow those out with about 10 psi of air.

 

[j91z28d1]

Note the lack of heater hose fittings.

ahh, I missed that.

shame

 

[KC 2013 Tahoe]

You can save some time in the future by spending 30 or $40 on a vacuum fill kit. Actually, most newer vehicles require it as a method of replacing the coolant. You do need an air compressor to run it. It basically sucks all the air out of the system, then draws the antifreeze in all the way to the top with no air pockets left in the engine. (Air pockets, even for 30 minutes with the engine running.... Can result in those areas experiencing extreme overheating and warping or cracking hardware) the nice thing is there's no waiting to burp it and topping it off. Only takes a couple minutes.

Also, on the LS engine like on many v8s, the only way to do a proper flush and completely drain the block is to remove the drain plugs on each side of the engine. If you don't do that and you used a chemical flush, you probably have a half gallon or more of that mixture that was left in the block when you started adding coolant.

The time to do the flush is before you remove the old water pump. Get the fitting where you can attach a hose in a Tee into one of the heater hoses, run the engine with the hose turned on and your reservoir cap off. Give it at least 15 or 20 minutes to make sure you got all the chemical mix out of it. Then when mixing your antifreeze, calculate at least one half gallon of water already in the engine after draining the radiator and removing the water pump. (More if you have the rear HVAC. I like to blow those out with about 10 psi of air.

rDezs - Thanks for the head's up! The vacuum fill kit sounds like a great investment. Will definitely seek one out.
I didn't use a flush/cleaner as the system was rust and chunk free, just used good old water pressure applied separately to the block, heater cores, coolant tank and radiator, followed by compressed air to blow them out. I also refilled the assembled system sans thermostat w/distilled water and again drained and blew out everything to eliminate as much of the tap water as possible. I budgeted a 1/2 gallon of distilled water remaining in each bank of the block following a good compressed air blowout, so started with a gallon of full strength coolant, then filled the remainder of the system with a 50/50 mix of full strength coolant and distilled water. So far so good!