Thread: Electric water pump

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Pros and cons to them?
My dad was looking @ them for his 55 belair. It's gonna be going on a well built 427, pro street car.....

Hoss,
IMO electric pumps are for racing, where they see short term duty. Using one on the street is asking for trouble. When it fails, and it will at some point, you're pretty well stuck for days sourcing a replacement. A stock type, belt driven pump is a much better approach for a street application.

I've had a CSI unit in my prostreet car for 6 years with no problems. Always did a good job of cooling. If your gonna get one spend the money for a good one.

I'm with Roger, leave the race car parts on the race car! A '55 has a ton of room for all the front end accessories and essentials, no real reason to go electric pump, electric fan, etc. Yes, they do take less horsepower to run but they also require a lot of amperage out of your electrical system so the minimal gain in hp is given away but having the alternator charging almost constantly and eating up that minimal hp!

Street cars are going to be driven, not raced 1/4 mile at a time. At the drags the electric pump and fan are used for quick cool down between rounds which isn't necessary on the street. Stick with the stuff that can be easily replaced at most any parts store. This from the guy who had an electric pump go fubar 95 miles from home on a Saturday afternoon!

The Stewart stage 1 pump is a very good pump, also Weiand and a number of other companies make a really first rate hi-volume mechanical water pump.

Originally Posted by Dave Severson

This from the guy who had an electric pump go fubar 95 miles from home on a Saturday afternoon!

Listen to the words of wisdom here... This typically happens (away from home of course) but in my case it would be dark, cold, wet!!

If you can, use stock type water and fuel pumps----

hell, even the top fuelers and funny cars don't use electric pumps-----


Besides that-I saw this morning that zerObama was going to penalize the coal fired electric plants , so we gotta cut down on electric use!!!!!!!!!!!!!

This isn't exaclty a cruiser though. No power steering, no power brakes, tubed rear, skinny fronts, electric fan, fogger system, 11.5:1 compression.

Originally Posted by Hoss Blazer

This isn't exaclty a cruiser though. No power steering, no power brakes, tubed rear, skinny fronts, electric fan, fogger system, 11.5:1 compression.

If it's a true racer or a trailer queen then an electric water pump may provide some "WOW" factor for the shows. If he plans to really drive it then go belt driven OEM style and be happy over the long run. Electric pumps and fans are for only when the right stuff won't work for some reason.

On the other hand, there are a lot of OEM electric fans out there these days.

I tell you what I have one on my 32 roadster. went to L.A. Roadster show drove it in the dessert and never had a problem with heat. a Electric pump works better in stop and go traffic imo. it proformed flawless. Plus it looks way Cool

I had an unfortunate experience with a transmission shop that would not install a new transmission without an electric water pump for cooling of a 0.030" 355 SBC in a '29 Ford 'glass roadster with a stock radiator. When I brought it to the shop it had a Zip setup that cooled OK from November to May but the shop guy insisted on an electric water pump. Appealing to the law to retrieve my car from the shop was hindered by an Deputy Sheriff who was the mechanic on the job. Well I have to admit that after a summer of running the car has not over heated but I always try to get the motor started right away while the ignition is on running the pump. Several other shops said the electric pump would be a problem but so far so good after about 1200 miles and I carry an extra set of brushes for the pump motor. I guess I will keep the electric pump until it fails.

Don Shillady
Retired Scientis/teen rodder

Some folks tell me they have used an electric pump for over 50,000 miles so I will just wait and see.

Don Shillady
Retired Scientis/teen rodder

Everyone is correct in saying that electric pumps are really meant for race cars. I have seen guys who run them on the street with no problems but if there is a failure far from home, then you're done.
Electric pumps only push so many GPM(gallons per minute). The best one on the market is Mezerie that pushes 55GPM. But the one thing that isn't said is what the true GPM is once the pump is attached to the block. Then static pressure comes into play and the GPM is reduced. I work for a cooling company and we did a test and found that after attaching the pump, it now flowed 27GPM not 55.
An electric pump will push the same GPM at idle and also at speed. At idle you're not making that much power, but out at highway speeds you're making more power which is also more heat. But the pump is still only pushing the same GPM as if you're at idle.
A stock belt driven pump will make 45-50 GPM and at highway speed, it can be 90-120 GPM depending on pulley size.
Get a good belt driven pump with an overdrive on the pulley(smaller pump pulley,larger crank pulley ) and you will be much better off.

Few words,, I have this on my 34 Ford (350 CI) and love it. The Davies Craig EWP.

Davies Craig Electric Water Pumps Demonstration - Performance Garage - YouTube

Originally Posted by chopt50wgn

Everyone is correct in saying that electric pumps are really meant for race cars. I have seen guys who run them on the street with no problems but if there is a failure far from home, then you're done.
Electric pumps only push so many GPM(gallons per minute). The best one on the market is Mezerie that pushes 55GPM. But the one thing that isn't said is what the true GPM is once the pump is attached to the block. Then static pressure comes into play and the GPM is reduced. I work for a cooling company and we did a test and found that after attaching the pump, it now flowed 27GPM not 55.
An electric pump will push the same GPM at idle and also at speed. At idle you're not making that much power, but out at highway speeds you're making more power which is also more heat. But the pump is still only pushing the same GPM as if you're at idle.

A stock belt driven pump will make 45-50 GPM and at highway speed, it can be 90-120 GPM depending on pulley size.
Get a good belt driven pump with an overdrive on the pulley(smaller pump pulley,larger crank pulley ) and you will be much better off.

This pretty much sez it all.....leave race car parts to the race cars!!!!! Drag racing, we've had to go to a cool down unit between rounds to get the temp out which should speak to the inefficiency of the electric pumps..... Main reason they're on a drag car is to allow the engine to build heat quickly (I like 195 to 200) from start up, through burn out, to stage and launch.....

Chopt 50 does this cooling stuff for a living, seems he's a most reliable person to take advice from concerning electric water pumps on the street!!!!!