Busted water pump and an extra nut

[turbotransporter]

The photo below is the water pump from my 87 Westy Weekender that has a VW of Canada rebuilt (2.1L gas) engine in it with an unknown number of miles. I have been fiddling with this engine off and on for a few weeks trying to get it running right and Saturday I thought I had achieved my goal after swapping out the sticky throttle body for a known good used one. The idle smoothed out and no more surging at light throttle. Woo-hoo.

That evening I drove the van up to Port Gamble to meet my brother for dinner and it was running better than it ever had. My brother was behind me and when we parked he mentioned that I had a tail light out. On the way home I stopped by my shop to investigate the tail light issue and when I got out of the van I could immediately smell coolant. I got a flashlight and pointed under the engine and saw that coolant was running onto the ground. Not dripping but running… like a faucet.

I left the van parked at my shop overnight and when I investigated Sunday morning I found that the coolant was coming from the weep hole in the water pump. After I got the big pipe disconnected from the pump I noticed a 13mm nut sitting in the pump opening. I though “That’s weird, I don’t recall dropping a nut”.

I removed the nut and after inspecting it I could see that it was all dinged up and rough on the edges. I set it aside and continued working to remove the water pump. I finally got the pump off the studs and when I pulled it out of the engine compartment and flipped it over to look at the impeller I almost dropped it from fright. There’s a 1” chunk of the impeller missing! I picked up the wayward nut again and immediately concluded that it was somehow involved with whatever happened to my water pump. Then I began to wonder what happened to the missing piece of the impeller…

I stuck my fingers into the water pump cavity and quickly found the missing chunk wedged against the outside of the #4 cylinder. Thank goodness I found it because it would have driven me crazy thinking about where it could have gone. I matched to the missing section of the impeller and it’s was a near perfect fit. The edges of break on the remaining impeller are a bit worn, probably from that nut getting tossed around in there but the edges on the loose piece are still sharp so it probably didn’t get mixed up with remains of the impeller. The loose nut did enough damage. It probably got tossed around in there for thousands of miles until one day it got into a position that jammed it against the impeller and the 1” piece of the cast steel impeller snapped off.

I have no way of knowing if the nut has been in there since VWoC rebuilt the engine or if it got in there later when someone may have replaced the water pump or something else that requires nuts. Either way, I feel pretty lucky I discovered where and when I did and not on I-5 driving down to SdM 2010.

Something to ponder... Since buying this van I've felt that the coolant flow to the radiator is kinda slow. The temp gauge needle stays above the led at about the 3/4 point and I'm wondering if that will change when I install the new pump. I'll know more tomorrow because the new German made pump arrived from the Van Cafe this afternoon.

[whafalia]

That's a heck of a story. Seems about all you can do is say, hmmm, and carry on.

[turbotransporter]

The follow up...

I installed the new water pump yesterday afternoon. I bought the new pump from the Van Café; German made and came with both needed o-rings and the gasket for the small cross over pipe.

Since I was working in that area, I also changed the oil cooler o-ring and the small coolant hoses that connect the oil cooler to the water pump and thermostat housing. Those short reinforced rubber hoses harden over time and don't like to be wiggled and flexed during the water pump installation so rather than risking a possible hose failure in this very tight and barely accessible location, I replaced them all. They are not "crasy" expensive so it's rather cheap "peace of mind".

The Van Café sells everything needed for this project and I was particularly impressed with the new oil cooler o-ring they sell. It's got ears! The old oil cooler o-ring was perfectly round (though squished flat and stiff) but the new o-ring has small tabs that fit over the raised tangs on the cooler and hold the new o-ring in place during reassembly. Me like.

Here's my parts list with part numbers and VC prices.

Water Pump 2.1L
025.121.010C 1 $68.00
Cooling Hose - Oil Cooler to Metal Pipe - SEE DESC
025.121.058D 1 $3.75
Cooling Hose - Joins metal pipe from oil cooler -
025.121.058E 1 $6.45
Cooling Hose - Oil Cooler to Metal Pipe - SEE DESC
025.121.058G 1 $5.45
Water Pump Hose - SEE DESCRIPTION
025.121.058J 1 $6.95
Oil Cooler Seal
038.117.070A 1 $3.25

I also installed all new ss smooth band clamps but I'm kinda nutty that way.

Though I was irrationally hopeful that the new water pump might lower the needle position on my temp gauge, it did not.

[RadioRental]

[turbotransporter]

Glad to have been helpful.

I've also ordered tons of stuff from the Bus Depot because their prices are good but lately I almost exclusively use the Van Cafe because I like their speedy delivery and the high level of Vanagon specific customer service that they provide. It's worth the slight difference to me.

Also, I like that The Van Cafe actually does Vanagon maintenance and repairs so they know Vanagons inside and out plus the very same parts they sell us over the internets or telephone, they also sell to face to face customers with complete confidence.

To follow up my previous post... The temp gauge needle stayed the same after changing the water pump. No surprise really and I believe it's because the resistance in the new temp sender is slightly different than the original sender. I'll look into it more later.

Also, a week or so after installing the the new water pump the Right water jacket gasket blew and dump coolant all over the road. Fortunately, I saw the temp light come on and was able to turn the engine off before it overheated. I've pulled the heads and I getting ready to install a set of nice used AMC heads I pulled off another engine AND... I didn't find any other "non-native" parts inside!

All the best with your project!

[Rocky Mountain Westy]

Man, sorry to cause you all these head aches. I thought it would be funny to drop a 13 mm nut in your coolant tank.

you are a trooper with your commitment to your fleet. Need a SS tower while you got the coolant drained? I will give you a good guy discount. Let me know.
_________________
Rocky Mountain Westy Inc.
www.rockymountainwesty.com
970-310-3441
[email protected]

The Splitzgauer build (when I have time to work on it and update the thread)

http://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=497133

[turbotransporter]

Was that a Subie nut?

[RadioRental]

Yarp, I feel kind of bad having to use Van-cafe's site to get part numbers and then flip over to the depot to order cheaper parts. With that said I've spent equal amounts at both shops, this month sees $250 for window seals at VC and 70 to the depot for pump + parts.

I'm just happy we have two super shops out there.

Sorry to hear about your continued coolant woes. I'm just hoping to milk my 2.1 for every mile left and drop in a zetec this winter or next.

Good luck!
_________________
__________________________________

'87 2.1. 125K 4spd Not rebuilt "Red Dwarf"

[RadioRental]

[BillM]

The seal between the oil cooler and block is big o ring. Some have tabs on them to help with positioning. They are a wear item as they get hard over time and really like to blow out in cold weather when the oil is thick.
It usually a pretty mess blowout as oil gets all over the ground. If you have the pump out replacing the o ring isn't much more work. You should get in a habit of everytime you change your oil checking the torque of the nut that hold the cooler in place. Keep it sung.
I am giving my friend three of those o rings tomorrow as I have gone
waterboxxer free!! I am loving my Zetec so much all my waterboxxer stuff is going!!!!

Bill

[RadioRental]

[turbotransporter]

[Wildthings]

No need to drain the oil to change the oil cooler o-ring. The cooler is well above the level of the oil sump.

[RadioRental]