Thread: Water Pump Gasket Sealer

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Don, I remember when you posted those photos before, after getting home and finding the problem, and I agree it's hard to imagine how that diffuser plate deformed like that. It had to be bouncing around like crazy, using the inside of the pump cavity as the dolly, and the noise?? I actually looked at the plate on mine yesterday, and especially at the spot welds but couldn't recall if you added a tack weld to your newest one or not. As you say, the spot welds are not real big, but then again how many pumps are out there doing just fine, and with varying degrees of overdrive from the factory? Just takes one, though, right? I also know it would be a real challenge to change mine without pulling the radiator & grille - might be done, but it'd be a task.

When I originally read Don's thread and with some interest, I was concerned that others might have the same problem. I wandered a Mustang forum, the Ford Truck as well as the Ford Muscle Forums (lurked, anyhow) but didn't find much in the way others who had had that problem. It almost appears that the Motorsport pump may be the culprit as I didn't see any others that had failures from over driving that pump. With the short radiator and possible filling problems and air bubbles, possibly those pump failures could be attributed to cavitation and heating of the the steel to weld failure, but not to the point of discoloring the base steel excessively. There are just too many that run those smaller pulleys without a problem.

Well, actually, Dave, I kinda created this problem myself. When I was putting the short pump assembly together I ran into the fact that Ford Racing had discontinued carrying the pulleys. I called around, trying to find some V belt pulleys to work. First stop was March Pulleys, they are right down the road from me in Naples, Fl. They were absolutely no help and were quite curt on the phone. Finally, I found that Zoops made pulleys for sbf, so I called them and got a crank and wp pulley they carried. The crank pulley didn't quite line up so I bought a Ford Racing spacer and had a machine shop modify my new Zoops pulley to fit it. Everything lined up and worked fine, except the ratio was off...........that was the problem I didn't forsee.

After 2 water pumps failed I decided to cure the problem once and for all, and that is when I learned that Runne Rite existed and had made the original pulleys for Ford Racing. Once I had those in hand I could see why I was having a problem, the ratio difference was so obvious. So, in fairness to Ford Racing, it was my choosing the wrong pulleys that caused the problems I was having.

Don