Question for those who live in Cold Weather Climates.....

[Royal-T-Ltd]

It has been pretty cold lately in St. Louis, teens and twenties, the Buick is parked until all the road salt/grime is washed away..... When i went to the garage to get some tools i noticed a pool of methanol under the car/pump.

Soooo question is : Are you guys experiencing an issues with pumps leaking with cold weather or do you think it just gave up the "ghost" and its time for a rebuild?

aaron

 

[turbo nasty]

No whats happened is your seal in the pump is shot. Or the cold has promoted a loose hose or fitting to leak from contraction. Whens the last time yiur pump was rebuilt?

 

[Royal-T-Ltd]

No whats happened is your seal in the pump is shot. Or the cold has promoted a loose hose or fitting to leak from contraction. Whens the last time yiur pump was rebuilt?

yeah - kinda what i figured. Never remembered any leaks before in the cold. At least i noticed it while it was parked for a while and not while i was at WOT. ( This is an oooold pump - Never redone yet)

aaron

 

[Reggie West]

Check connections and rubber seals too before you send the pump out.

 

[kidglok]

the clearances in the pump loosen up when its cold

 

[turbo nasty]

Send it in dont flirt with disaster.

 

[pacecarta]

its the pump head , plastic shrinks when its cold . not news
my86 drains out when its really cold out, has been that way since 2006.
back then saw pump leaking on trailer in tech when i tested it (was 20s that AM ), it was fine when it warmed up (high 40s) and i ran 10.40s that day
couple weeks back it was cold as balz prior to the race weekend and sure enough when i went to put on trailer the reservoir was empty
it got to mid 40s that day, filled it and it was fine ...even went a little faster
tank held for days , just checked it and its been 20s and tank is dry again

am i upset ..well yes and no
not at the pump but that im still up north when the weather is frikin brr , time to become a snowbird like the rest of the grey hairs in NJ

 

[kidglok]

its like taking a cold shower, some shrinkage is expected

 

[Razor]

Be curious of this condition on a brand new pump?

 

[Royal-T-Ltd]

Be curious of this condition on a brand new pump?

meee too.

Julio,

in the mean time any deals on a (1) new pump and two rebuilds?
or is it possible to buy rebuild kits and do it myself?
aaron

 

[SS502]

Mine is less than a month old before putting car away in garage. Drained and ran the "better" -32 degree washer fluid threw it & left maybe a 1/4" in the tank, been in teens here in Michigan, No signs of leaking anywhere, checked the floor and zero, fluid is kinda a bright red, so it will show if anything starts to leak.Just a car cover- no climate control in garage.

 

[turbo nasty]

I to have to disagree with the pump head cold leak thing. Mine with a full tank of methanol and 18 BELOW zero in storage never leaks a drop. If your pump head is leaking get it looked at. I leave methanol in there since I dont know the exacts of whats in the washer fluids and dont want to chance it.
IMO...Number one killer of pump is contaminated methanol due to oils from using one pump for all the racing fuels where people get their meth. Should have a dedicated pump thats soley used for methanol. And only use V1 (if using VP) or equiv the others have a upper cyl lube that slowly kills the diaphram. From oils.
Second would be age

First sign is usually the owner think...hmm...I swore the tank was higher and the level dropped and I hardly drove it and/or got into boost for the level to drop.

And in warmer climates the meth/alky evaporates so quickly that its never caught. Due to no "puddle".

 

[SS502]

I run Razors kit & asked about cold storage, did what Julio said.. he made the kit.