Electric Water Pumps

[MikeLMR]

Been looking at electric water pumps for the 323 ... just because they neaten things up a bit and I don\'t have a standard pump that fits at the moment either.

However I have seen a fair number of comments on the Davies Craig units failing in service (I know there have been a number of revisions and believe they are now onto the third generation of pumps) However for a similar price you can get a pump made by stewart in the states, which is mostly alluminium in construction and seems to have nothing but praise on it\'s reliability from what I have found.  Has anyone used one?

And what are peoples thoughts on running without a thermostat using an electric pump ? Does the car ever get up to running temp properly when just cruising or does switching the pump off have the same effect as the thermostat closing (can\'t see how it can as thermo syphoning will move the water round anyway) and does anyone have experience of running an inline thermostat housing in the top hose line?

Aaaand (this is long post I know) any probs with the bolt on adapter style of connection to totaly remove the water pump housing? Do you end up with flow problems or is there a trick with welding a baffle on the plate or similar?

[antnicuk]

Between me and my cousin we have had both the early CD pump and the brand new one,  with the old electronic thermostate control and the new one.  They have certainly improved although i have never heard of one \'failing\' completely.

The new one is on the 20b and works a treat but you must make sure you put the temp probe into the engine as far as you can.  The thermostatic controller works quite well unlike the early one which was either on or off.  If its just a drag car i would just run the pump with out a stat TBO, but if you want it on the road, the controller works well.

Tims running a big american thing which flows huge amounts of water and he has fab\'d his own thermostate housing and bypass etc.

[MikeLMR]

Sounds like the american thing will be a stewart pump ... thats what I\'ve been looking at, looks a lot better engineered than the DC pump for not a lot more. Was thinking of running it off some ECU Aux outputs (assuming the one I end up with has a few to spare) with an inline stat housing.

It is not just a drag car and I hope it will be road registered and used so I think a stat is a nice idea.

[Timrxmotors]

Mine is a Meziere one,55gpm.Still have standard thermostat.Pump runs all the time the ignition is on.I wouldn\'t even try a Craig davies one,don\'t flow anywhere near enough,more suitable for a fish tank!

[shaunwil]

I\'ve been using the Davies craig for a while and they seem to be a good
unit. If i was doing it again i would just go for the pump and keep the
thermastat. The electronics in my opinion are a waste of money, they
kick in far too late. I\'ve wired a pot into the thermocouple to enable
better adjustment but this means cutting and soldiering wires. Theres no
options or lead.

At this time of year the car stays around 75-85deg and the temp goes
down when sat in traffic. The pump runs 100% from about 70deg. When the
cars pushed it does raise slowly but not drastically.

It takes a good 10mins to get the water to a working temp. I don\'t have
a stock thermostat but i had to modify it to block the hole up behind
and to force water through to the back of the engine !

Shaun

[MikeLMR]

hmmm intersting, I\'d spotted the meziere pumps and again the look like a nice bit of kit but a little more expensive? Nice to see they sell the plates for the rotary specific fitting too, and inline stat housings. I will certainly be looking at one of these in the future I think. The DC one just doesn\'t look right.

[MikeLMR]

well think I have this sorted and I\'ve decided on something a bit different to the norm after reading around and taking a dislike to the design of the DC pump (don\'t think plastic is a good idea for hot water, even the OEM\'s don\'t get it right) So I have ended up with a Stewart EMP made pump @ 55GPM (208lpm is that enough) and will be using a new thermostat housing nicked from a lotus exige type setup .... after looking at the standard cooling system the coolant flows will be along these lines. As with most things, if it doesn\'t work it\'ll come out and be changed until it does.

The dashed lines show secondary or part time flows.

[shaunwil]

Isn\'t the stewart one made from plastic too ??

http://www.stewartcomponents.net/Merchant2/merchant.mvc?Screen=PROD&Product_Code=E389A&Category_Code=ElectPump

Shaun

[MikeLMR]

yes but the main housing is aluminium (and yes I do look silly ... I presumed as it was anodized all of it was ally ... oh well :Giggle)

[kev-yorks]

Using a dg on mine no issues yet Mike and the new digital controller seems to work a treat.
Kevin

[shaunwil]

Have you wired up a volt meter to see whats happening with the pump ?? With the controller i wasn\'t completely happy with where the pump was flowing at full tilt.

Shaun

[shaunwil]

I have to say I love the drag racing one that has the pump built into the rad. Wonder if one of those would fit in the FD ?

Shaun

[kev-yorks]

The old contrtollers had issues Shaun this one seems ok no flow for the first 20degrees then pulses up to just below set temp then alters the voltage to suit temps are rock solid at the moment with the car static and running for up to an hour at a time at various revs while i\'m playing with the Haltec.
Kevin

[shaunwil]

Cool to hear

Would it be ok if i popped up in the next couple of weeks for that rear axle ?

Shaun

[kev-yorks]

No problem at all Shaun