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jkmcrg Samba Member
Joined: November 24, 2014 Posts: 169 Location: Austin, TX
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Posted: Fri Dec 05, 2014 10:48 pm Post subject: Broke a pulley |
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So there I was, cruising down a road showing off my 1984 westy with a 2.1L engine swap to a few friends when a friend points out that my belts are making a squeezing/ creaking sound.
"That's probably the person behind me! I tightened the alternator belt yesterday."
- 5 minutes later
"Hey man what's that blinking light on your dash?"
It was my heater needle off the gauge. I pulled into a parking lot immediately. The steam shooting out of the rear air intakes turned heads. I threw open the engine cover and took a look.
Coolant was pouring out of a broken pulley bearing.
I'm freaking out a little bit. Is this a very big repair? I am trying to do work myself, is this something that I can do myself?
I have the following pictures, but the van is currently in a grocery store parking lot and I can't check anything out until tomorrow morning.
Last edited by jkmcrg on Fri Dec 05, 2014 11:13 pm; edited 1 time in total |
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syncrodoka Samba Member

Joined: December 27, 2005 Posts: 12353 Location: Santa Cruz, CA
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Posted: Fri Dec 05, 2014 10:51 pm Post subject: |
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That is the water pump. That is why there is coolant leaking out of the bad bearing. |
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jkmcrg Samba Member
Joined: November 24, 2014 Posts: 169 Location: Austin, TX
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Posted: Fri Dec 05, 2014 11:09 pm Post subject: |
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syncrodoka wrote: |
That is the water pump. That is why there is coolant leaking out of the bad bearing. |
Hey thanks for the quick reply. Can I just replace the bearing, or is it a bigger fix? |
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SyncroChrick Samba Member
Joined: January 10, 2005 Posts: 1034 Location: San Francisco, CA
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Posted: Fri Dec 05, 2014 11:20 pm Post subject: |
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jkmcrg wrote: |
syncrodoka wrote: |
That is the water pump. That is why there is coolant leaking out of the bad bearing. |
Hey thanks for the quick reply. Can I just replace the bearing, or is it a bigger fix? |
Slightly bigger fix. You probably need to replace the water pump.
Although I would start by just replacing the broken bolt and putting the pulley/belt together. You may be very lucky and it won't leak too much… |
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Wildthings Samba Member

Joined: March 13, 2005 Posts: 52483
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Posted: Fri Dec 05, 2014 11:29 pm Post subject: |
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Replacing the water pump is pretty normal maintenance. It would obviously have been a good idea if you had done this while the engine was out. Bearings go bad and seals leak, that is the way of water pump life. Your biggest problem in replacing the water pump will probably be that the steel fasteners are badly corroded in the aluminium case and can not be removed all that easily. |
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syncrodoka Samba Member

Joined: December 27, 2005 Posts: 12353 Location: Santa Cruz, CA
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Posted: Sat Dec 06, 2014 12:01 am Post subject: |
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jkmcrg wrote: |
syncrodoka wrote: |
That is the water pump. That is why there is coolant leaking out of the bad bearing. |
Hey thanks for the quick reply. Can I just replace the bearing, or is it a bigger fix? |
You need to replace the entire pump |
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morymob Samba Member
Joined: November 09, 2007 Posts: 4683 Location: east-tn
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Posted: Sat Dec 06, 2014 6:28 am Post subject: |
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Curious, u mentioned a 'new' 2.1 eng swap in your '84, u do or someone else? I question eng size because u CANT swap without swapping all cooling external parts on long block, I f this was done recently then wpump bolts should come out easily. I question it being a 2.1 4 these reasons. |
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insyncro Banned

Joined: March 07, 2002 Posts: 15086 Location: New York
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Posted: Sat Dec 06, 2014 7:21 am Post subject: |
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That is a 1.9 waterpump on a 2.1.
Make sure that you get the right parts.
I have the same configuration for sale in the classifieds.
If you want the pump and tstat housing as a unit, I will sell it like that.
Under 1000 miles on this pump. |
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jkmcrg Samba Member
Joined: November 24, 2014 Posts: 169 Location: Austin, TX
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Posted: Sat Dec 06, 2014 8:41 am Post subject: |
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morymob wrote: |
Curious, u mentioned a 'new' 2.1 eng swap in your '84, u do or someone else? |
It's wasn't a new engine that was swapped in, pretty sure it had 100k+ on it, and the person I bought it from swapped it in.
insyncro wrote: |
That is a 1.9 waterpump on a 2.1.
Make sure that you get the right parts. |
Hmm.. could I use this opportunity to purchase a 2.1 water pump, or is it more of 2.1 system vs a 1.9 system?
insyncro wrote: |
I have the same configuration for sale in the classifieds.
If you want the pump and tstat housing as a unit, I will sell it like that.
Under 1000 miles on this pump. |
Is there any reason I would need the tstat housing also? |
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insyncro Banned

Joined: March 07, 2002 Posts: 15086 Location: New York
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Posted: Sat Dec 06, 2014 9:02 am Post subject: |
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Pick one setup 1.9 or 2.1.
The entire system needs to be used.
If your wiring is 1.9 as it is, you have a bunch of stuff to change if you want it all 2.1.
The bolts of the tstat housing break on a regular basis.
So I sell working units together.
You will know more when you disassemble. |
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jkmcrg Samba Member
Joined: November 24, 2014 Posts: 169 Location: Austin, TX
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Posted: Sat Dec 06, 2014 10:00 am Post subject: |
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Okay, that makes sense. I will definitely stick with the 1.9 setup, then.
If there was something I could do so I could drive it 2 miles home instead of towing it, I would love to do that.
SyncroChrick wrote: |
I would start by just replacing the broken bolt and putting the pulley/belt together. You may be very lucky and it won't leak too much… |
None of the bolts look broken... I don't really know about the internals of the pump, but it looks like the drive shaft is bent.
Last edited by jkmcrg on Sat Dec 06, 2014 10:04 am; edited 1 time in total |
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insyncro Banned

Joined: March 07, 2002 Posts: 15086 Location: New York
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Posted: Sat Dec 06, 2014 10:03 am Post subject: |
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Get it towed. |
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jkmcrg Samba Member
Joined: November 24, 2014 Posts: 169 Location: Austin, TX
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Posted: Sat Dec 06, 2014 10:06 am Post subject: |
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insyncro wrote: |
Get it towed. |
okie dokie |
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