10 year old rebuilt water pump, should I use now or....?

[John R.]

I have to replace my water pump on my 58. I looked in my parts inventory and have a 493 correct pump and did not remember if it was rebuilt or not. Opened the back cover and it is nice and clean, so it is rebuilt. It turns freely as well.Question: I know I obtained this pump 10 years or so ago. Can I use it as is or should I get it rebuilt due to age?Thanks.

[Paul J.]

Re: 10 year old rebuilt water pump, should I use now or....?

The only thing that will age is the seals, and 10 years is not that long. I would install the pump and run it. If it leaks, then rebuild it.

[Joe L.]

Re: 10 year old rebuilt water pump, should I use now or....?

I have to replace my water pump on my 58. I looked in my parts inventory and have a 493 correct pump and did not remember if it was rebuilt or not. Opened the back cover and it is nice and clean, so it is rebuilt. It turns freely as well.Question: I know I obtained this pump 10 years or so ago. Can I use it as is or should I get it rebuilt due to age?Thanks.

John------


I would say it's 100% OK to use as-is.

[John R.]

Re: 10 year old rebuilt water pump, should I use now or....?

Joe and Paul, thanks for the opinions. Will install.

[Joe L.]

Re: 10 year old rebuilt water pump, should I use now or....?

Joe and Paul, thanks for the opinions. Will install.

John-----

What you have is essentially the same as an NOS pump. I have some NOS waterpumps that are 45+ years old and I would not hesitate for a second to use them as-is.

[Duke W.]

Re: 10 year old rebuilt water pump, should I use now or....?

I worked with a local SoCal rebuilder - Superior Pump, since moved to Arizona, on rebuilding Cosworth Vega water pumps about 15 years ago. They said the shelf life of a new or properly rebuilt unused pump is essentially indefinite, but a used pump that sits on the shelf for a long time - such as during an engine rebuild - could be a problem. Once the seal gets "wet" you don't want it to dry out, again, or it could turn into a leaker.

Those CV water pumps rarely lasted more than about 40K miles due to the high average revs and the fact that the pump bearing bore the cam drive belt tensioning load. The OE pump had a standard SAE 5/8" ball/ball bearing (two rows of balls). We had a box of cores rebuilt with a ball/roller bearing that replaces the front roll of balls with rollers. I have yet to hear of any of these pumps failing.

The same can be done on any SB pump since these bearings are all the same SAE standard designs - 5/8" on early SBs and 3/4" at some point. Either size OE ball/ball type can be replaced with a ball/roller type.

I have yet to own a new car that made it past 50K miles on the original water pump - three Chevys, two Mercedes. The '91 MR2 has 42K miles and counting. I'm keeping my fingers crossed.

Duke