Bloody waterpumps!!!!!!

dac69er

Super Moderator
Has anyone else had issues with waterpumps leaking after only a short period of use?

My runaround mk1 had a slight leak from the seal. It was 5 years old and I though bugger it, I will swap the cambelt and pump and get it done. This was in November last year.
Didn't use the car over winter, started using it recently, done about 1000miles and it was leaking again out of the seal drain hole. I then changed it again and it seems ok so far.

Today I started taking the box off my ep85 and noticed that water pump was leaking from the input shaft seal, just behind the pulley. This pump isn't very old either, perhaps a couple of years and not many miles!!!!

The pumps are all branded pumps, not complete ching chong specials. Why am I having such a pain in the arse with them?


Oddly my other mk1 has a 10+ year old water pump in it and that is still 100%
 

Jay

Admin
Don't think I've had any issues Duncan, just might be unlucky.

I'm guessing the rest of the cooling system is tip top?

Only other thing I can think of would be the belt could have an effect on the pump shaft possibly, tension good and it's all running true?
 

dac69er

Super Moderator
The rest of the system is 100% always use Toyota red coolant too.

The pump is the bolt on pulley type, I have changed the pulley and the belts just to make sure. Tension is fine.

I guess if the pump was NOS it may have perished internal rubber parts on the shaft seal internally perhaps!?

My dad said it would probably lack of use, but as I said, my other mk1 that I barely use is perfectly fine!?!?

What brand pumps have others used in the past? Ive used a gates and Q&H recently and had issues with them :(
 

SKINY

Lifer
I've only experience with them on the 3s series engines, I always bought oem pumps and gaskets, thin layer off black silicone spread between the gasket and pump and again a smear round the housing. Never had an issue with them.
They had a housing you could remove handy enough tho, are the starlet pumps straight onto the block ?
 

dac69er

Super Moderator
I don't have a leak from where it bolts on, it's either from the little hole that tells you the rotary seal is leaking or from the shaft on the pulley end.

The pump bolts to a housing that is then bolted to the block.

Toyota would probably want 100 billion dollars for a genuine pump!!!! I guess I could give them a ring and see.
 
now that's a strange one....even the non-genuine pumps seem to last quite a while
the only difference i've notices between pumps is sometimes slight differences in the fins
i'd say try flushing the system to get rid of any foreign particles, but i suspect you do that whenever you make any changes
 

sx_turbo

Lifer
Aisin make them for toyota,

other top notch brands are GRAF , magnetti marelli, hepu, metelli & SKF steer clear of anything else. even blueprint aren't as good as they were and now focus more on price point than quality.

also, water pumps do leak a little over time due to the nature of the mechanical seal however this should be noted as a weep or "staining" rather than full on leak. Also when one does notice a leak sometimes (especially if the engine isnt used for periods of time) the leak does get better and fixes itself with use as the carbon ceramic seal re "bed" themselves in, this usually takes around an hour or so but the engine does need to be "loaded" dont just idle it.
 
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dac69er

Super Moderator
maybe i will just have to go with genuine. im just surprised how poor the aftermarket ones i have used have been :(

the coolant that comes out always looks like new, never any shit in them. the engines had been rebuilt too, so no crap in them at all from previous owners etc.

i find the problem is they are fine when left, but as soon as i use the cars again after the winter for example, they start leaking. gave them a good thrashing and they never got any better :(
 

pc18

North West England Area Rep.
I fitted a blue print one just over 3 months ago no issues with it. I usually use blue print parts. I bought a blueprint water pump for a TT supra and it was much better quality than the original toyota one fitted.
 

Fizturbo

Member +
Only js grabbed blue print rear brakes you can't go wrong good stuff, ther goin on car tomorrow
 

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dac69er

Super Moderator
I've always found blueprint stuff fine personally.
Need to sort the gearbox first then will have a look at the waterpump
 

sx_turbo

Lifer
quality is perception, something can look good on the outside but still be bad internally.

blueprint are still a good brand, however since being purchased by the bilstein group the quality has taken a slight dip, Blueprint do NOT make any of their own products, all items are sourced overseas, now mostly china and south east asia, very little is bought in from japan now, some parts are produced by Febi Bilstein and SWAG (sister companies focusing on German spares). on the most part they are high quality, however the returns rate have gone up (i personally have had a set of suspension arms on my A4 fail after 9 months, the car does 6k per year).
 
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dac69er

Super Moderator
In general the quality of everything is getting worse. Constant cost cutting unfortunately :(

I appreciate what you are saying, but sometimes just looking at an item can give you a good indication of it's overall quality. Granted, this is not guaranteed.
 
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