At 10:54 AM 3/19/2001 -0500, Greg Bass wrote:
>.... The root cause was the forward flange where the alternator is mounted
to the engine (not the adjusting mount), was completely broken. ....
>
>I was curiousg if anyone else has had this piece break before ....
This is a common occurence with the aftermarket aluminum water pumps.
Appearantly the body of the pump is cast in about the same form as the
original iron part, and with aluminum having less strength than iron it
just doesn't hold up to the long term stress of engine vibration. The
break point will be just inboard of the alternator mounting point, about
1/2 inch from the bolt.
My original iron water pump held up just fine over 40 years through two
engines and 250,000 miles uf use. Then I installed a new engine with a new
aluminum water pump. Within a few months I had two aluminum water pumps
broken in this manner. I ultimately retrieved my original iron water pump
and inastalled it on the third engine, and it has been doing well for
another 30,000 miles and still going strong. Now occasionally when someone
else is rebuilding an engine and installing a new aluminum water pump out
of due course, I ask casually if I may have their old iron water pump. I
clean it up, repaint it, and put it on the shelf for a spare, just in case
my original water pump should ever decide it's had a long enough run in life.
FWIW, I personally have never had an original MG iron bodied water pump
fail in any manner.
Barney Gaylord
1958 MGA with an attitude (and 300,000+ miles)
http://www.ntsource.com/~barneymg
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