TR majorwater pump

Where your waterpump bearings

Where your waterpump bearings definitely replaced 30K miles ago, to think that you only have 30k miles on them now? I am skeptical as to what was said to be done, and what was actually done, even by a Ferrari dealer! While I thought that my tensioner bearings where still good, a close look revealed rust and pitting on the edges of the outer bearing.....the last major was 5 years ago, by the dealer.....By their looks, I wouldn't be surprised if they are the original ones. I'm sure the previous owner has invoices charging him for new ones. The above statement by Rutlands gives me doubt.

While the pump may look good, this is no indication of the bearing being good or bad. Did you spin the bearings by hand to make sure they didn't bind? While doing the Boxer clutch, I saw that the pilot bearing was not frozen, however, when I turned it by hand, I was able to feel resistance.....while it still functioned well, it WAS going......so I replaced it.

Since this is my first service, I feel, like JRV, and replace everything......well, almost everything. Then I will know exactly where I am at. At the next service, if a seal doesn't leak, or a bearing spins free, then I will consider leaving them alone for another 30K miles.

One of the nice things about d

One of the nice things about doing your own major, engine-out service it that it gives you a baseline to start from...You know, 'cause you did it, what was done, without any doubts.

And speaking from experience, a few "extra" dollars now and time spent, is far better than trying to get to that (water pump), or whatever, after the engine is back in the car.

IMO, the water pump is a "must do", while the engine is out, unless you're 100% sure as to it's condition. Even though I had very few miles on my rebuilt pump, prior to the recent engine overhaul...I went though it again, only to find a hairline crack in the housing. Likely, this explaned the small dribble of antifreeze on the ground.

In addition, if the water pump impeller was not previously tightened enough, the impeller will wobble slightly on the pump shaft, damaging the back of the impeller. Although you might look at the damage and say...no big deal, and reassemble it, as this is not a sealing area...It is a big deal, as I found out. Any wear, or indentation on the backside of the impeller adversely affects the impeller to front pump housing clearance. This "extra" clearance reduces the efficiency of the water pump, resulting in higher engine temperatures. I had a custom spacer made...longer than the OE Ferrari one to reduce the pump front housing/impeller clearance...resulting in greater pumping efficiency.


Regards,
David

H,

yes you can still pull

H,

yes you can still pull the inner bearing if you choose to, but since they get oiled from the engine they are usually ok.


I didn't want to interfere with the fun you guys are having until I noticed this front cover situation...you really don't want to make this far harder than it needs to be...{ }

Hey Tom,

what happened on t

Hey Tom,

what happened on the Boxer with no spark?

I don't really consider a WP rebuild a scare tactic. A good tech that does good work would really look like a fool if a major was done and a few thousand miles later the pump started leaking, and if he had to pull the motor again for free because of the oversight...ouch!!!

Quality work isn't neccesarily just fixing what is broken, a certian portion of quality is anticipating what might go wrong before another 30K miles rolls along and doing ones best to mitigate/avoid those potential problems.

Yes sometimes customers balk at the cost of the best quality work but if they are given inteligent explanations as to why heading off problems in advance is really in their own best interest, the smart ones will go with the highest quality programs ime.

Regards, JRV