I was putting on my water pump this evening, and after started torqing (sp?) the bolts down to 30 lbs, i noticed that when i spin the shaft, i can hear the impeller rubbing against the block on the inside. this is a brand new (rebuild) water pump. what should i do? i have a couple extra gaskets that i can shim it with, but then i would fear the gaskets being a weak point.

russ

many rebuilt waterpumps require two gaskets; one between the engine and pump and another between the pump body and the steel plate behind the impeller. It forms a kind of sandwich.

_________________
David Kight
'62 Valiant Signet, White
'98 Dodge Dakota
'06 Jeep Liberty

Growing older is unavoidable but growing up is strictly optional.

Make sure there is no scale/rust build up in the pump cavity. If there is none, return the pump and buy a new one (not rebuilt).

_________________
Charrlie_S
65 Valiant 100 2dr post 170 turbo
66 Valiant Signet 170 nitrous
64 Valiant Signet
64 Valiant 4dr 170
64 Valiant 4dr 225

I never put a torque wrench on a water pump so I don't really know how tight I get them "by feel".
30 ft.lbs sounds like a lot, where did that spec come from?
Bottomline, I would check for scale build-up in the pump pocket and use less torque.
DD

there is no build up. my engine came back from the machine shop clean as a whistle. 30 lbs came from the back of my dodge a100 manual. ill double check it to make sure thats right. yes i do have both gaskets installed. other than that, you guys reckon i otta just take it back?

russ

Yes, and compare how far the impeller is pressed on if you get another one.......

_________________
Ed
64 Valiant 225 / 904 / 42:1 manual steering / 9" drum brakes

I agree that 30 pounds sounds WAY over torqued for little bolts like w/p bolts....that sounds almost like a torque spec for flywheel bolts or something. Torque specs for 3/8 inch or 5/16 inch bolts are usually in inch pounds...and not too many of them. Davey

I just looked it up....

3/8" bolts

30 ftlbs.......

_________________
Ed
64 Valiant 225 / 904 / 42:1 manual steering / 9" drum brakes

30 ft-lbs according to the 62 Plymouth FSM.

_________________
David Kight
'62 Valiant Signet, White
'98 Dodge Dakota
'06 Jeep Liberty

Growing older is unavoidable but growing up is strictly optional.

WOW! That is amazing. I didn't think 3/8 inch bolts would even take 30 foot pounds...I've rung off many that seemed to take less than that. But...what do I know? If its in the book I stand corrected. However, I am also one of these guys that never torques these kind of bolts (like w/p, valve cover, fuel pump etc etc) bolts to a spec anyway. I run them down in an alternating pattern til it "feels" right and I quit...knowing that I can ring them off very easily if not careful. Hmmm, maybe this is why my motor leaks so much oil...? Davey

I wonder if that 30 ft.lbs. rating is based on the cast iron water pump housing used on some SL6 engines.
I would be a little worried about using that much torque on the die cast aluminum water pump housing we see today.

So much for all the 'guess work'.... I have a couple of engines on the bench that I can check the water pump bolt tightness on. In the end, this ends-up being one of those "nice to know but who cares" kind of things. As long as the water pump is tight & not leaking, (or rubbing on the block) your done.
DD

Up-date: I checked the water pump bolt torque on a couple of engines, my 'hand tight' is about 18 ft.lbs. I took the bolts up to 20 ft.lbs. without a second thought, that seems real tight. I would not want to go to 30 ft.lbs, that seems excessive to me.
DD

There are sometimes typos in the FSM, but I suspect that your problem is not due to bolt torque.

I suspect it has to do with the impellor not being pressed quite far enough down the shaft, or the shaft not positioned quite right in the bearing. Either are easy to fix if you provide proper support.

But why bother. Let the rebuilder eat it. His people screwed up. I don't care how easy a fix is, I don't bail out a company, and their poor quality. Sometimes a Co. is not even aware of a problem, unless the stuff gets sent back.

A few year back, a major company was haveing failures, just out of the warrentee period. They were not awre of a problem, because the units were not being returned (out of warrentee). A member of the IATN posted to see if any other shops were having a similar problem (they were), and he contacted the Company. This company invited the shop owner to their plant (at their expense) to discuss the problem and remidies.

_________________
Charrlie_S
65 Valiant 100 2dr post 170 turbo
66 Valiant Signet 170 nitrous
64 Valiant Signet
64 Valiant 4dr 170
64 Valiant 4dr 225

H'mmmm...are ya sure about that? I have seen many early-style cast iron water pumps, but they were all aftermarket pieces (they cross eBay as NORS fairly regularly, both with the 3¼" impeller used only on the 1960 170, and with the 3½" impeller used on all other slants). Weertman's book specifically describes the development and production of the aluminum water pump right from the start, and the '60 parts books show the aluminum type (w/plate-and-gasket sandwich), but it's certainly possible what was printed and what was actually installed weren't always the same.

_________________
一期一会
Too many people who were born on third base actually believe they've hit a triple.