Paint inside the water pump?

[Ian G.]

I have a rebuilt water pump I bought many years back, and getting ready to mount it on the engine. They painted it with chevy orange inside and out. I can hear some of the paint inside chipping off. Should I try and get the rest of the paint off the inside? Seems like a bad idea to have it in there chipping off and floating around in the system.

[Joe L.]

Re: Paint inside the water pump?

I have a rebuilt water pump I bought many years back, and getting ready to mount it on the engine. They painted it with chevy orange inside and out. I can hear some of the paint inside chipping off. Should I try and get the rest of the paint off the inside? Seems like a bad idea to have it in there chipping off and floating around in the system.

Ian------


I don't think it will cause any problem. Even if it is chipping off, I'm very surprised that you can hear it. Are you sure that's what you're hearing?

Some folks coat the inside of the waterpump with Rustoleum or Glyptal. I've never done it but it might not be a bad idea.

[Ian G.]

Re: Paint inside the water pump?

Thanks Joe, yeah I can chip some off with my finger nail... what do they normally do to a water pump to get rid of the rust inside? Hot tank it?

[Joe L.]

Re: Paint inside the water pump?

Thanks Joe, yeah I can chip some off with my finger nail... what do they normally do to a water pump to get rid of the rust inside? Hot tank it?

Ian------


Yes, but you'll have an extremely difficult time finding any shop that has a hot tank anymore. Plus, you can't hot tank it with the pump assembled. You'd have to disassemble it first.

[Edward B.]

Re: Paint inside the water pump?

I can hear some of the paint inside chipping off.

Can you describe the sound made by paint chipping? Is it anything like the sound of grass growing?

[Ian G.]

Re: Paint inside the water pump?

It sounds like spurs, jingle jangle jingling...

[Daniel Y.]

Re: Paint inside the water pump?

now that's funny!!! LMAO....

[Edward J.]

Re: Paint inside the water pump?

Ian, you may have a issue down the road, paint does not like to stick to rust , Radiator core passages are small.as are heater cores, No real need for this, as keeping anti freeze changed is all you need to do. and really there is no benefit to coating the inside of water pump.

[Ian G.]

Re: Paint inside the water pump?

Yeah that was my thought.

[Joe L.]

Re: Paint inside the water pump?

Yeah that was my thought.

Ian------


Actually, the reason that some folks coat the inside of waterpumps with Rustoleum or Glyptal is, ostensibly, to promote smooth flow through the pump and minimize the chances of cavitation. The waterpump's as-cast internal surfaces are quite rough. Whether the coating is actually effective, worthwhile, or counterproductive, I do not know.

[Ian G.]

Re: Paint inside the water pump?

Most of the pumps I see rebuilt online all seem to have paint on the inside. Nothing as sophisticated as Glyptol. I don't understand it. I'm looking to buy a new one at this point. The neck is pretty badly rusted down. I'm sure it would be fine, but... you know. It's my baby.

[Joe L.]

Re: Paint inside the water pump?

Most of the pumps I see rebuilt online all seem to have paint on the inside. Nothing as sophisticated as Glyptol. I don't understand it. I'm looking to buy a new one at this point. The neck is pretty badly rusted down. I'm sure it would be fine, but... you know. It's my baby.

Ian------


I would not use any rebuilt pump manufactured from a core that suffered from significant corrosion damage. I've disassembled some rebuilt pumps out-of-the-box and what I found inside was shocking with respect to the condition of the casting and impeller. I notice that nowadays a lot of the water pumps sold in the automotive marketplace are all new and that may be because, by now, there just aren't that many decent cores left out there. Of course, these new pumps are, in most cases, not going to survive strict judging guidelines. But, as I've said before, functionality trumps originality, especially when one is talking about nuances.