ive got a 1989 formula 350. when looking at the front of the motor the rotation on the water pump is counterclockwise with the serpentine belt. ive been plagued by temperatures anywhere from 230 -245 since this motor was new. (1900) miles ago. my mechanic told me i had a reverse rotation water pump system but when i took the new one off and checked with napa they couldnt tell me if the L-98 that came in the car was reverse rotation or not. their part# couldnt tell them either. im running vortec heads and as we all know they are a reverse water rotation head. i just ordered a new edelbrock reverse rotation pump to try and fix the problem. my question is this. is a factory 1989 L-98 reverse rotation?........thanks in advance

 

I think you are confusing reverse flow cooling with reverse rotation water pumps.. The water flows the same on an engine with vortec heads. The difference is in the water pump. With serpentine belt equipped applications, the water pump is usually driven off of the back side (smooth) of the belt. This makes the pulley turn counter clockwise. In order to maintain the same flow and operation as before, the water pump must have a different impellar to account for the rotation difference. If you put a v-belt setup on your car, you would want a std. rotation pump. With [a factory] serpentine belt (or any setup that drives the water pump with the other side of the belt than is on the crank pulley), you need a reverse rotation pump..

Reverse cooling is a different subject (and applicable to LT1 engines, not Vortec headed Gen I SBC's).

Oh, and the answer to your question is Yes. Since it is an '89, it would have come from the factory with a serpentine belt system, hence it has a reverse rotation water pump.

 

thanks for replying. i believe it has been my problem since day one. napa must have given me the wrong part # for the reverse flow pump. i just hope it fixes the proble. thanks for the much needed info. ..:hail: