Replace Seized Water Pump

Summary

Replace a failed water pump in my M50 engine.

Start Date: May 2012

Odometer: 308,000km

Total cost: $0

When test drove the the M50 engine I installed in my car, it overheated after a few minutes. I tried bleeding the radiator, but it still overheated. The radiator was new, and had good pressure and flow. I next removed and tested the thermostat out of the car, and found it was functioning properly. Finally I started removing the water pump to inspect its condition. The pump's plastic impeller was seized in the engine. I pulled out what I could of the impeller, and replaced the water pump with a known-working spare I had on hand.

Parts

Journal

Here is the failed water pump. I tried to reconstruct the impeller to be sure I had retrieved as many pieces as possible. Remaining pieces will dissolve over time in the engine's coolant chambers.

As soon as the water pump was replaced, the engine stopped overheating.

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