C4 Water Pump
The water pump drive shaft coupling has a ridge on the circumference . The service manual shows it facing the water pump drive shaft. My 93 was installed the reverse from factory is there a difference ? The coupling has the identical make up on both ends. The slotted groves appear the same and slips on with little effort either way. Also the resistance on the pump shaft is a failure waiting to happen. This bearing has to be the worst i have experienced.
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Re: C4 Water Pump
Frank------
Regardless of the orientation of the coupling when removed (unless you've owned the car since new, you don't know if someone has been in here before and got it wrong), the end of the coupling with the circumferential groove goes toward the engine. Why take a chance on possible negative consequences by installing it the wrong way when you can easily install it the correct way?
As far as the pump shaft bearing is concerned, I'm unaware of any notorious problem with it. There is no side loading on this bearing as there is with traditional waterpump bearings.In Appreciation of John Hinckley -
Re: C4 Water Pump
I am the original owner but have per service manual placed it toward engine. Thanks for the reply! FrankComment
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Re: C4 Water Pump
Frank------
Did you ever have any warranty work done on the engine that might have involved removing the waterpump? Otherwise, I'd say the factory got it wrong.
One thing to consider: if there was not a good reason for the specified orientation of this coupling, GM would not have specified the circumferential groove on one end. There was a cost, regardless of how minor, which resulted from the inclusion of this groove. If the coupling was, indeed, "omni-directional", there would have been no groove.In Appreciation of John HinckleyComment
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Re: C4 Water Pump
No factory work or dealer work has been completed on this car.I did have to soak the coupling with pb blaster twice and it did not come off water pump easily. The problem i did have was the water pump shaft would not move and the fan was not distorted. For a 15,000 mile plus car i was surprised with the pumps shape.The original pump number was 10128327 and i am wondering if how much resistance should be on the pumps shaft The new after market one i bought will be compared with a new GM and which ever spins with less effort i will use. I just found a GM on the web and will order today. I do not believe any products today are bench tested today as in the past! Low bidder gets the contract and no one checks the quality. When you see foundry flashing in the bowels of a water pump you know quality control was not completedComment
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Re: C4 Water Pump
Frank-----
If the 10128327 number you mention is the number found on the waterpump body, that's the casting number for the body, not a part number for the waterpump assembly. The original part number for the waterpump used on your car was GM #10108683. That was later changed to GM #12527739 which remains available today. The latter is also known by AC Delco #251-554. The GM #12527739 carries a GM list price of almost 500 bucks but can be purchased for about half that. I've seen aftermarket pumps for this application selling for about 60 bucks. Think they're the same? I don't. I would use the GM pump regardless of how much effort is required to rotate the shaft.
By the way, at one time these pumps were actually machined and assembled at the Flint engine plant. In 1992 when we toured the Flint engine plant as part of the NCRS National Convention, I saw bins full of raw castings for the LT1 waterpumps. Of course, the Flint engine plant closed many years ago now so GM has another manufacturing source for these pumps.In Appreciation of John HinckleyComment
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Re: C4 Water Pump
That is the number 101283271 Also D3109 was engraved on pump. When i crossed the first number on GM parts direct it gave me a profeeonal part verses a Gm original which you said was correct. The profesional matched my part number and was one half the price. What is the diffrence between them both? I can only see black attachment bolts on hub verses silver on the professional.Comment
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Re: C4 Water Pump
Frank-----
The AC Delco #252-699, also known as GM #88926213, is part of their "Professional" series of automotive parts. GM #12527739, aka AC Delco #251-554 is an OEM (original equipment manufacturer) series part. "Professional" series AC Delco parts are aftermarket quality; OEM series parts are the same quality as those parts originally installed on the car. What the specific differences are between aftermarket and OEM for any particular part I do not know. One thing that I'm absolutely sure of, though, is that the parts are NOT the same with the higher-priced OEM series just a ruse to dupe "folks willing to pay a higher price". Are the "Professional" series parts adequate? Absolutely YES. Are they as good as OEM? Absolutely NO.
One of the tenets of aftermarket quality parts is that by the time a replacement part is installed on a car, much of the life of the car has been "used up". So, the replacement part does really not need to be of as good a quality as the parts originally installed on the car. The aftermarket-quality part will then likely last the car for the remainder of its life. In the vast majority of the cases, this is absolutely true. The extra money spent on an OEM quality part would be wasted if the part "out-lives" the car. For folks on a budget, the "Professional" series part (or, even, a lesser quality aftermarket part) might be sufficient and the wise choice. I have another way of looking at this, though. If I am repairing my car, I don't want to have to do the job again someday if my tenure with the car happens to exceed the life of the part. If I am paying someone else to repair the car, I damn sure don't want to have to pay someone to do it again if the replacement part fails during my tenure with the car since the greatest part of the repair cost is the labor. So, I always want the absolute highest quality part to be used. In fact, in large part that's why I've accumulated 38,000 OEM parts to support my Corvettes---that way I'm assured of having OEM parts if I need them. For example, OEM waterpumps for my 1992 LT1 ( a one-year-only waterpump)? I have 3----just in case.
Keep in mind that you can't always tell the quality or value of something by appearances. For example, a "paste" diamond might APPEAR the same as a genuine, natural diamond. But, as far as value goes, they're not the same.In Appreciation of John HinckleyComment
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