Just finished installing a Stewart Stage II water pump ... - Third Generation F-Body Message Boards

LT1FUN · 07-29-2007, 03:00 PM

Over the past few weeks, my cooling system hadn't been running quite as well as I'd have liked. My water pump was leaking through its weep hole. The thermostat gasket had shriveled up and turned to dust which allowed for even more coolant to leak out, the lower radiator hose had recently burst and the passenger side fan has mysteriously stopped functioning.

Needless to say, my car has been running pretty hot the past couple days so I decided to do a few upgrades before I'd wind up stranded on the highway due to over-heating ...

I picked up a Stewart Stage II aluminum water pump as well as a new set water pump bolts, and a "modified" RobertShaw 160' high flow thermostat. (Don't ask me what makes it "modified" 'cause I don't have the slightest idea

)

I ordered everything directly from Stewart and even though it took about 4 weeks (the pump was on back-order), thankfully, it all arrived before the over-heating problem got any worse.

I snapped off a few pic's of the new pump and a few of it side by side with the old to illustrate the differences. As you can see from the pic's, the Stewart pump weighs in at exactly 6lbs. That's less than 1/2 of the stock cast-iron pump's 14.5 lbs. That's a pretty big difference and any weight savings on our car's is always a good thing.

The pump fit like a glove and everything lined up the way it should. Since I had to remove and re-use the pulley off the old pump, I took the time to clean it up and paint it before I installed it on the Stewart. The waterpump came with all necessary gaskets but the thermostat didn't come with it's own so I had to pick one up at the local parts store. It was only $1.25 so no big deal. Just about the only thing I'd forgotten was ordering a new "plug" which is screwed in to the top of the water pump. I figured I'd just remove it from the old pump and re-use it but that sucker was seized in place and wouldn't budge an inch no matter how hard I tried.

I ended up finding a plug in my "junk box" which just so happened to have a matching thread to that of the new water-pump so I was lucky. Anyone else may want to pick up a new plug from their parts store before they start tearing things apart. I finished up early this morning and got the motor running and checked for leaks. Nothing.

I took the car for a 30 minute drive out on the freeway and around the side streets and the car no longer had any cooling issues at all. Temperature never went above 175'.

Surprisingly, the car now idles at 900rpm where as before, it idled at about 600. The car also shifts gears about 400-500rpm later than before. Since I did nothing else to the more besides the pump install, I'm assuming these new characteristic's are a direct result of the pump itself.

Regardless, the car runs like a champ and the heating issues have been resolved. Now all I have left is to find out the problem with the secondary fan...

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LT1FUN · 07-29-2007, 03:02 PM

Here's a few more pic's ...

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and finally, here's the before/after.

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Needless to say, I'm a happy camper. The water pump looks and works great and I'd recommend Stewart pump's to any third-gen owner looking to upgrade there stock pump.

jimdutro · 07-29-2007, 05:26 PM

Your "modified" thermostat has 3 3/16ths holes machined into it so that you always have some coolant flow even with the stat closed, helps to eliminate steam pockets. Good choice. Good job.

GWW · 07-30-2007, 08:03 PM

Yours came with bolts, mine didn't, oh well. Nice looking piece instead of a rusty old iron one.

black_highway · 08-24-2007, 12:01 AM

I have one and i couldn't get it to fit; it appears the top right corner of the pump needs to be grinded down to clear the A/C bracket. Did you run in to this issue?

LT1FUN · 08-24-2007, 12:16 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by black_highway

I have one and i couldn't get it to fit; it appears the top right corner of the pump needs to be grinded down to clear the A/C bracket. Did you run in to this issue?

Nope. This was surprisingly one of the few aftermarket parts I've bought that actually fit the way it should without having to modify anything else

It's strange that your having clearance issues with while mine fit like a glove. All these water pumps are formed from the same cast so technically, they should all be identical to one and other in terms of their physical dimentions. Is there any way you can post pic's of where the pump is hitting the bracket? I'm curious to see how bad it is. Would you have to grind out a lot to make it fit?

Have you thought about contacting EMP to see what they have to say?

johnny89345 · 06-01-2009, 05:20 AM

maybe you bought the wrong one bec the ac on 87s is where the alternator is on yours

Reid Fleming · 06-01-2009, 11:48 AM

The painted pulley is a nice touch.

I H8 WWD · 06-01-2009, 02:53 PM

Hell yeah. I have one of those too, along with a Stewart matched 180* stat. Fits perfect.

Also because I removed my heater diverter valve thingamahjigger I am using a PRS-1003 fitting to route back to my intake manifold. I was unable to get the fitting all the way in the pump but I did have a nice amount of RTV on the threads, I don't see anything getting past. Could this be a problem possibly?

Anyway the reason your car is shifting different is because your trans fluid is no longer running hot, therefore making for earlier shifts? Don't quote me on that but that's what I'd figure.

All looks great.