Anyone have any experience with the thing? Any opinions about using it on a high hp mostly drag car that will see quite a bit of street use and maybe even some autox?

 

From what I read, generally electric water pumps don't last long on a car driven alot - pretty much a strictly strip item.

I'm wondering how your going to set up a car (suspension wise) to run the raod, the strip, AND autocross (since all three require different suspension setups).

 

I had a CSR unit and it failed on me after 2 years but definately far under the 2500 hr life span they are rated at. I only had 400 miles on it the first year of driving and second year was plagued with overheating issues in the summer due to inadequate fans.
I sent it back to CSR and they took it apart, inspected it and then found some motor brushes needed replaced and charged me like 35 bucks for parts and I now have a spare.

New CSR pump i got now is working fine again but i keep an eye on my temp gauge just in case. When they stop pumping, the car heats up QUICK. Being turbo it runs hot anyway but really skyrockets when the pump fails.

For the most part however its working fine on the street. Runs under 210 deg in 80's deg PA weather. I went on a 52 mile cruise Sunday and it stayed under 200 most of the way on the highway and only hit low 200's in the town at redlights. This is with a thick core Griffen rad and both LS1 electric fans on. Absolutely need good fans to keep things cool. Air flow is key to keeping cool.

In the winter however its generally around 180 or so and I can get down to 160's with both fans on so I keep both off as much as possible.

I love the electric pump on the street since I can keep it running after I shut down for a few minutes if I have to run into the store or get gas, or you name it. Doesnt draw much power so doesnt kill the battery like the fans would.

Great at the drag strip too. Cool down MUCH faster between runs and also on the dyno.

Miezere makes a much higher flowing unit I believe that may be worth looking into for an auto x setup that may see higher WOT burst over a longer period of time than a drag strip car. I'm considering the swap, it flows 55 gpm while the base models only go 35-37. It may make a big difference it may not. I dont know what a standard high volume sbc waterpump does like my old stewart stage 2 pump. That car never got over 190 in the summer on stock rad and stock dual fans

 

Huh, weird, in the LT1 world they're not just common, but they seem to last a while also, generally LT1 pumps last longer than SBC, and the electric LT1 pumps seem to last longer than that. I've installed both CSR and Miezere and haven't had issues either, and haven't even seen a reason for the high flow versions even in road race situations.

Orr, we talked about the fans thing in another thread (I think I specifically asked you about the lS1 fans fitting, haven't picked up any but was wondering what the difference was between them and the LT1 ones, they seem to be a similar design but the LT1's have better air doors on them, I also have a BIG Lincoln mkviii fan sitting in the garage)... I'm sure it will be an issue, but I have some ideas also. Currently I'm more worried about the extra cooling going with a 4" intercooler core vs the decrease in airflow across the radiator (that and I have a 30x12x3 ic in my basement, but I don't know if it will flow enough).

camaronewbie- there has been a bit of a discussion about the handling thing in a few other threads. Essentially, everything I've ever owned has been drag raced regularly but setup more for road racing and I've had no problems running fast at the dragstrip. in most cases I just go with what I want for handling and put some airbags in the rear springs to setup some adjustable preload (and pull the valve cores when it gets autoxed). This time around I hope to figure out how to do something resembling a drag race sway bar that is easily adjustable or interchangeable with a road race style.

 

< Proform over 4 years and still going strong... They work just like any other water pump just keep a eye on the brushes, thats all you have to worry about.

 

I havent seen LT1 fan setup but the LS1's appear to be stronger than the factory L98 fans but the main difference is the shroud thats built in around the fan. That helped the fan pull more air thru the rad and I believe helped my cooling problem. My rad is like 15.5 x 27" so its not a perfect match for the LS1 fans. I had to do alot of cutting/hacking up to make it fit but it works for me and was cheap.

I hope my new pump continues to work tho. The one that failed on me looked to be a slightly different design, maybe an older model? Hard to say but it failed way earlier than expected. Maybe it was the extreme heat from the engine bay? I know LT1 guys almost always have an electric pump

 

I had a csr on a high 9 sec street car for years and no problems. Have one on a 421 sbc in a 86 Iroc for 6 years now and still works ok. Its electrical so its always a gamble in my mind, you should be fine.

 

I've had my Proform for 2 years on my Daily Driver and it's still going strong.

 

sounds like there are people that have heard of problems with that pump, but I can't seem to find actual people having problems with it...