Noisey water pump has resolved problem

[dmartin_egroup]

My 1937 Plymouth 4-door has had a noise in engine front area for some time..  I thought maybe generator bearing, maybe water pump bearing, maybe squeaky belt???  Today it seemed much louder when I drove the car, so I shut it down and I found the water pump pulley and fan are loose.  Both parts are bolted to a flange on front of water pump hub.  The flange seems to have broken away from the main body of the hub.  Hard to see clearly, and the weather is too hot to work on a hot engine today anyway.  But at least now I know what I will be working on!  Luckily I have one or two spare water pumps, so I may find the part I need right in my attic.  I am glad the fan did not hit the radiator!  I will try to post more as I make progress.

 

D. Martin in W. Tennessee

[greg g]

Lucky to have found it before further damage was done. Hope you can get it fixed without too much trouble.

[dmartin_egroup]

More info. on the water pump: I found the hub was not broken, but the whole hub was loose on the shaft.  The hub is supposed to be a press fit on the shaft, and a pin about 1/8 inch diameter is pressed into a cross-drilled hole.  Something about mine was not right, because the hub was making a chirping noise for many months, finally getting much louder; the loudness caused me to shut down yesterday and examine in detail.  I have two other pumps, I will look at tomorrow (or later...)

 

Dennis in W. Tennessee

[dmartin_egroup]

Third installment on my water pump story.  I removed the pump with the bad (noisy) fan/pulley hub.  I examined another used pump that had been removed from the car a year ago because it seemed noisy.  I found the impeller was rubbing slightly against the inside of the pump's back cover plate.  I installed a thicker gasket and it seemed o.k.  I installed it on the car and it runs with no noise!  Excellent!!  I will run the car for a few hundred miles before I say it is really fixed, but at present I am optimistic.

Edited June 23, 2016 by dmartin_egroup

[desoto1939]

I have bee watching the water pumps that are being advertised by thepartsgeek.  They are selling the revised and upgraded water pump that now has the sealed bearing instead of the old style that used the two bonze bushings.  When the main shaft started to get some wear the bronze bushing would then get elongated and then cause the water leak via the main impellor shaft. 

 

The Chrysler flat 8's had the sealed bearing style and the 6's had the old bushing style.  So Gates has improved the product. I also called Gates toinquirer about the change and their technician told me this information.  So instead of buying a rebuilt waterpump at a swap meet go to the parts Geek .com and look for a 46 Plymouth water pump and the gates model if I remember correctly around 40-60 and it has the sealed bearing. 

 

link in www.partsgeek.com      pump is 38.23 plus shipping

 

Rich Hartung

Desoto1939@aol.com

Edited June 25, 2016 by desoto1939

[dmartin_egroup]

Thanks for the information on Parts Geek Gates pump.  My used replacement runs quiet, which was an improvement, but it started leaking coolant, dripping around the front of housing around the shaft.  I may still need to buy a better pump.  The Gates seems like a good deal.