Good waterpump replacement

Mills28

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Nov 26, 2018
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EDIT: PLEASE READ THE WHOLE THREAD BEFORE COMMENTING, THIS IS A SPIN OFF FROM WHAT THE OP THOUGHT HE NEEDED TO STOP HIS WATER PUMPS FROM LEAKING OUT THE WEEP HOLE

Does anyone have a DIY on how to pin a Duramax water pump??? I'm replacing water pumps yearly, sometimes 2 a year and I'm sick of pissing away an entire Saturday. I've got a lifetime warranty from O'reilly so it's just a matter of getting a new one and performing the work.
 
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Chevy1925

don't know sh!t about IFS
Staff member
Oct 21, 2009
21,681
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Does anyone have a DIY on how to pin a Duramax water pump??? I'm replacing water pumps yearly, sometimes 2 a year and I'm sick of pissing away an entire Saturday. I've got a lifetime warranty from O'reilly so it's just a matter of getting a new one and performing the work.

i assume you have a LB7/LLY. buy the LBZ conversion pump from Danville OR buy the Socal Diesel coolant bypass setup OR buy both. That will stop your issues.
 

duramaxzak

Wanna be puller!
Nov 22, 2008
2,431
14
38
Minnesota
I went with the Wagler billet pump, it’s a very nice piece. I broke a welded pump and it ended up costing me a set of SoCal stage 2 heads...
 

Mills28

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Nov 26, 2018
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i assume you have a LB7/LLY. buy the LBZ conversion pump from Danville OR buy the Socal Diesel coolant bypass setup OR buy both. That will stop your issues.

2006 LBZ, Duramax tuner only. Want to keep it on the cheap. Truck has 230k and only highway miles. If knew how to pin it myself I could stop the constant coolant pissing in my driveway and 4 hours of knuckle busting every year.
 

Chevy1925

don't know sh!t about IFS
Staff member
Oct 21, 2009
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2006 LBZ, Duramax tuner only. Want to keep it on the cheap. Truck has 230k and only highway miles. If knew how to pin it myself I could stop the constant coolant pissing in my driveway and 4 hours of knuckle busting every year.

pinning it wont stop the shit bearing inside from wiping out the seals and causing a coolant leak.

if you are loosing the plastic impeller or gear on that pump, you have another issue to look at.
 

Mills28

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Nov 26, 2018
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pinning it wont stop the shit bearing inside from wiping out the seals and causing a coolant leak.

if you are loosing the plastic impeller or gear on that pump, you have another issue to look at.

It just begins to leak out of the weep hole. Every time I've replaced it the impeller is pristine and still feels tight. There just shit pumps. Trying to figure out a way to improve without shelling out a bunch of money.
 

Chevy1925

don't know sh!t about IFS
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Oct 21, 2009
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It just begins to leak out of the weep hole. Every time I've replaced it the impeller is pristine and still feels tight. There just shit pumps. Trying to figure out a way to improve without shelling out a bunch of money.

this isnt an issue that will be solved by using a "pin" through the impeller. thats strictly for high RPM/fast revving engines that chop the throttle at the end of runs, spike coolant pressures and causes the impeller to come off the shaft.

your issue is most likely as you said, its a cheap pump. Buy an AC Delco pump off rock auto or the higher dollar pump from Napa and its going to stop your headaches. buy a new balancer bolt while you are at it. you have torqued on that thing enough that its probably well past its yeilding strength. it is a torque to yield bolt and if you dont have it tight enough, you can shear the crank pin and spin the balancer on the crank snout.
 

Mills28

New member
Nov 26, 2018
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this isnt an issue that will be solved by using a "pin" through the impeller. thats strictly for high RPM/fast revving engines that chop the throttle at the end of runs, spike coolant pressures and causes the impeller to come off the shaft.

your issue is most likely as you said, its a cheap pump. Buy an AC Delco pump off rock auto or the higher dollar pump from Napa and its going to stop your headaches. buy a new balancer bolt while you are at it. you have torqued on that thing enough that its probably well past its yeilding strength. it is a torque to yield bolt and if you dont have it tight enough, you can shear the crank pin and spin the balancer on the crank snout.

Good call. I'll do that. Napa is just right down the street and in stock! Thank you!
 

Mills28

New member
Nov 26, 2018
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I have the locking tool. Just got a brand new unit from NAPA. If I have a local welding shop Tig the pin for some extra protection, will it mess up the bearings?
 

Chevy1925

don't know sh!t about IFS
Staff member
Oct 21, 2009
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I have the locking tool. Just got a brand new unit from NAPA. If I have a local welding shop Tig the pin for some extra protection, will it mess up the bearings?

most you can do is TIG the gear to the shaft. impeller is plastic.

if you still have them do this, the pump needs to be submurged in water so the seals are covered with water and the gear is above water, then TIG it. This will ensure heat is kept out of the seals/bearing and it wont leak. if they dont do that, you run a decent risk of melting a seal and being right back in the same situation you were before with a leak.
 

prostreeter600

Street rodder
Jul 18, 2010
894
7
18
Dallas Tx
LBZ

I did this on my LBZ , absolutely no issues, I put 4 tack welds on each with my mig welder while I had a wet rag on the surrounding area so the heat would be contained. The impeller is plastic but it has a steel bushing on it too .
 

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Hambone

Always learning
Jan 24, 2016
572
0
16
Florida
I just replaced my pump in the Lly with a Danville one no problems yet
I went through original one- Delco- then two napa ones
The two napa ones were under the delcos warranty I just got tired of replacing the dam things...
The last two napa ones I tig welded and yes I did it by submerging in water!
When I build the motor someday I’ll add the bypass but for now the LBZ one is working flawlessly


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 

Chevy1925

don't know sh!t about IFS
Staff member
Oct 21, 2009
21,681
5,832
113
Phoenix Az
I just replaced my pump in the Lly with a Danville one no problems yet
I went through original one- Delco- then two napa ones
The two napa ones were under the delcos warranty I just got tired of replacing the dam things...
The last two napa ones I tig welded and yes I did it by submerging in water!
When I build the motor someday I’ll add the bypass but for now the LBZ one is working flawlessly


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

did you just have bad pumps (water leaking out the weep hole) or the impeller/gear coming off?

i think im going to move Mills post to his own thread. Its getting confusing on if guys are meaning the impeller or gear is coming off or if the actual pump just went bad and weeped out the weep hole.

EDIT: Moved it to its own thread. should help clear things up a little more for new posters and so on.
 

Hambone

Always learning
Jan 24, 2016
572
0
16
Florida
did you just have bad pumps (water leaking out the weep hole) or the impeller/gear coming off?

i think im going to move Mills post to his own thread. Its getting confusing on if guys are meaning the impeller or gear is coming off or if the actual pump just went bad and weeped out the weep hole.

EDIT: Moved it to its own thread. should help clear things up a little more for new posters and so on.



Sorry should of added more detail
Just breezed through the thread and didn’t want someone else making the same mistake :)
The original pump had the typical weep hole leak from wear
Delco spun the impeller and wore into the housing some
And both Napa ones were welded but after 15-20k miles poured out through the hole
didn’t break the weld just started leaking
My guess is even though I welded just a little at a time while soaked it still heated up the seals to much and caused early fatigue
What was causing it for me is I like to throw some mud every now in then with the kids and do some dirt road drags
High rpm letoff is hard on everything


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