Weird water pump failure - any thoughts?

[J Banning]

Anyone ever hear of this happening?...

I have a water pump that has/had an aluminum backing plate welded to the back of it's impeller wheel. Aside from the backing plate, the water pump appears to be exactly the same as a stocker/stock replacement unit.

During the practice session at E-Town last weekend, I was pulling to the line and heard an awfull screeching sound which ended up being this backing plate seperating from the water pump. The plate bent, twisted, and eventually broke into several pieces... most of which (not all though) I was able to recover when I replaced it before eliminations (not fun).

So, back to my question... anyone ever heard or seen this happen?

P.S. The water pump is slightly more than a year old and has about 5k miles on it. When the climate is favorable, I run straight water with Watter Wetter or RMI.

Thanks,
-Banning.

 

[Chuck Leeper]

YEP!!

Mine was a POS from CAS!! Same thing, only mine just slid around in the pump hsg til it was worn thin. That way the metal got pumped everywhere, not just where I could find it!!!washed the $hit out when I did the winter cleaning!! [On the engine stand, that is!!]

 

[J Banning]

Yeah, I'm trying to figure out the best way to flush/back-flush the cooling system. I'll definately take the radiator out. Other than that... I'm not sure. The plate broke into about 3 equal pieces, 2 of which were contained in the pump housing. The other piece (or pieces)? I'm not sure where they are

Oh wait, here's another great part of the story. My Precision front cover is also chewed up from the pieces . I'm hoping that it'll be ok like that. Also, the pump must of seized temporarily because I had some of the serpentine belt get chewed up - that was replaced along with the water pump.

-Banning.

 

[MSDGN]

Yep...same thing happened on a friends car...when we tore his motor down...and removed the water pump that plate just fell out...guess it had been banging around in there for awhile...I'd stay away from any pumps like that...I always use stock GM pumps and have had zero problems...

 

[topfuel]

exploding water pumps

What kind of water pumps are we talking about here?
I need to get a new water pump and don't want to put
one of these on. Are they just standard rebuilt pumps
from the parts store or something different?
BTW:
My factory original pump has 98000 miles on it without
any noises or leakage, I'm replacing it cause I'm doing
a timing chain and it will probably fail if I re-use it.
Maybe I should just spend the extra dough and get a
brand new GM pump, I'm not sure I trust rebuilts...

 

[Chuck Leeper]

POS PUMP!

Mine was an aftermkt from CAS..
Don't suspect they spent the bucks for a gennie GM.. Most likely an aftermkt as in HONG KONGESE!!
Why would you have to "re-use" a pump when you do a timing chain? You can leave the pump bolted to and sealed on the ft cover when you take the cover off.. No need to take the pump off too.
Scott, will shoot the air seal pics in the Am and get them e-mailed to you tomorrow!

 

[J Banning]

1) The water pump was from CAS.

2) You don't have to remove the water pump from the front cover to do the timing chain. Just leave it on and remove the front cover and pump as one piece.

-Banning.

 

[topfuel]

2) You don't have to remove the water pump from the front cover to do the timing chain. Just leave it on and remove the front cover and pump as one piece.

It's been awhile since I've replaced a GM timing chain, not sure
why I thought the pump had to come off first.
Maybe I was just thinkin that this would be the best time
to change the pump while everything in front was apart.

Thanks for the info