Water pump replacements?

[irox]

Hi Noriyasu,

I have repaired a Subaru (1990 Legacy with the 2.2L engine) that has a seized water pump. From what I can tell, once the pump stops turning (or stiffens up and becomes hard to turn), the time belt will continue to rub over the WP pulley, this puts tension in part of the belt (as the seized pulley now pulls on the belt) putting extra stress on the idler pulleys. Eventually the idler pulley bearing will fail, shooting ball bearing every where and causing the timing belt to come off.

Fortunately the 3.3 and 2.2 engines are non-interference engines and the vehicle could be repaired. Although I think the incident would shorten the life expectancy of the engine.

Even if your water pump doesn't seize completely, as it degrades it will get stiffer to turn, the this put stress on other components driven by the timing belt.

I do agree that it is also easier to change the PW when you do the timing belt, but there are good reasons to change it before it fails.

[Noriyasu]

Originally Posted by irox

Hi Noriyasu,

I have repaired a Subaru (1990 Legacy with the 2.2L engine) that has a seized water pump. From what I can tell, once the pump stops turning (or stiffens up and becomes hard to turn), the time belt will continue to rub over the WP pulley, this puts tension in part of the belt (as the seized pulley now pulls on the belt) putting extra stress on the idler pulleys. Eventually the idler pulley bearing will fail, shooting ball bearing every where and causing the timing belt to come off.

Fortunately the 3.3 and 2.2 engines are non-interference engines and the vehicle could be repaired. Although I think the incident would shorten the life expectancy of the engine.

Even if your water pump doesn't seize completely, as it degrades it will get stiffer to turn, the this put stress on other components driven by the timing belt.

I do agree that it is also easier to change the PW when you do the timing belt, but there are good reasons to change it before it fails.

I also agree with you said. its case by case.

There may be cases like that. Before the WP completely stopped working, I think there were signs such as belt rubbing sounds and the time it took for the water temperature to rise abnormally quickly.

For users who do not notice such abnormalities, preventive replacement is essential.

When using a classic car, the number of parts that cannot be repaired increases. There will be more cases where we have to be careful for car condition when driving.

[Noriyasu]

Hi,

The point of this problem is that it is not clear which compatible WPs will fit SVX.

There are several third-party versions for sale on eBay, Amazon, etc., but I've heard from Mika and seen review by others that the WP sold for SVX doesn't fit.

Unfortunately, the compatibility information on the internet doesn't seem to be very accurate.

In my case, I don't drive the SVX so often, so I probably won't replace the WP again. However, it is a serious problem for those who need now. I hope Mika finds usable one.