Volvo 2002 Water Pump

[sjconnor]

Looking for some advice .... I recently fitted a speedseal onto my Volvo Penta 2002 water pump, unfortunately it leaks and I have a couple of questions seeking advice from the forum pls.

First question - the inside shape of the water pump looks very odd, certainly not round. Is it supposed to be that shape ?



Second question - from the side view below, the blade edges of the impellor appear to be protruding out slightly beyond the flat surface of the pump face, which would mean the speedseal would definitely require an additional gasket, something that a normal pump cover would use (even though it advertises that its not required).



Really appreciate any insights on this please.

Thanks.
Simon.

 

[Christian Williams]

Holy mackerel!

A new water pump is easy to install or rebuild. Lots of threads on the topic and videos on YouTube.

(Often the diameter of the pump body has a dish in it, so it's not actually circular. That may be what you're seeing.)

 

[Loren Beach]

My Oberdorfer pump appears to use the same principle. That "flat" on the one side of the chamber on mine is what causes the impeller to fold in and force the water to move around.
Of course, over time, that rubber impeller will start to show little cracks in the bases of it's molded vanes and will need to be replaced.
(If one waits too long to replace it with a fresh one, a vane may break off and clog up the water passage or a portion of the heat exchanger.)

I have not (yet) changed over to a "speed seal", attractive as their ad is, but it's a change we might make in the future.

Our impeller does not stick out beyond the surface, but the old pump was replaced when the surface cover plate had eroded away a bit and was lowering the pressure in the pump too much. I had to "lap" that surface once and then, acknowledging the wear of the inside chamber surfaces, just replace ($) the whole pump. (This is kind of a Columbia River issue, as we have constant quantities of microscopic grit in the water from distant mountain run-off and the water is abrasive.)

Anyhow, Volvo engines are quite rare in Ericsons, and around here only seem to show in the boats built by PSC, who had a long-existing vendor relationship with PSC.

The picture certainly does raise a concern, though. I hope that others can comment or post up a good suggestion. This might be a good question for Mainesail.
I will also forward this to my mechanic.

Regards,
Loren

Edit: here's a reply from my mechanic:
Loren; I hope that's just the gasket that is all distorted in the picture, if not the pump needs to go bye bye. It is quite common for the impeller to protrude slightly beyond the gasket edge. A problem that exists when a pump gets worn internally on ends , the impeller does not make a good seal against the end plates and water will not be drawn into the pump to pump efficiently.

 

[Rocinante33]

Looking for some advice .... I recently fitted a speedseal onto my Volvo Penta 2002 water pump, unfortunately it leaks and I have a couple of questions seeking advice from the forum pls.

First question - the inside shape of the water pump looks very odd, certainly not round. Is it supposed to be that shape ?

View attachment 15779

Second question - from the side view below, the blade edges of the impellor appear to be protruding out slightly beyond the flat surface of the pump face, which would mean the speedseal would definitely require an additional gasket, something that a normal pump cover would use (even though it advertises that its not required).

View attachment 15780

Really appreciate any insights on this please.

Thanks.
Simon.

Simon,

It looks to me from the picture that the old gasket, or a portion of it, is still in place on the pump. If that is True, that could be the source of the leak. I believe that the speed seal needs to have the old gasket scraped off and the surface made smooth.

That the impeller protrudes slightly might be ok because the neoprene will compress a bit and it will make a good seal for the pump blades as they spin.

 

[sjconnor]

Hi all,

Thanks for your advice. The more recent photo I took today with the pump a little cleaner shows a more uniform shape (thankfully). I've replaced the impellor anyway with one where the blades are a little narrower. The Speedseal doesn't seam to fit properly so I've gone back to using the original cover plate. There's a very slight drip when the engine runs, which I'll look at another day as it doesn't appear to be serious at all. There was some blockage in the pump pipe too which was restricting water flow in the system, so all in all I'm happy with the recent service.



Cheers,
Simon.