Electric Water Pump Question
Thread Starter
Staging Lane
Joined: Nov 2011
Posts: 70
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Electric Water Pump Question Hey guy, i'm pretty new to the LT1 platform. I recently bought a 97 Z28 that had a good bit of work done to it including a meziere electric water pump. The engine is pretty fresh (only about 1000 miles or so since it was rebuilt and i think the water pump is fairly new. Yesterday i had it up on my lift and i noticed there was a steady drop of coolant comin from the weep hole in the bottom of the pump. Does that mean the pump is bad? Do they make some kind of rebuild kit for it instead of buying another $270 pump? I honestly dont know how old the pump is but it looks pretty clean which leads me to believe its fairly new. Thanks in advance for any help.
Thread Starter
Staging Lane
Joined: Nov 2011
Posts: 70
Likes: 0
Its from the little weep hole at the bottom of the motor housing. Sending it to mez for a rebuild sounds like a good bit of downtime. I wonder if the price difference would be worth it.
You could buy a second and still send this one for rebuild so next time you have a spare. Most of the advocates of electric pumps on the street specifically say to keep a second one onhand because they can fail suddenly and completely and the parts store down the road wont have one.
If you want to keep it cheap you could even just get a Summit house brand or something as the spare and run it for a few weeks till the higher flow Meziere comes back.
If you want to keep it cheap you could even just get a Summit house brand or something as the spare and run it for a few weeks till the higher flow Meziere comes back.
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Verdad Gallardo Not that they die that often but if they do as you know a replacement is not 3 miles down the road and the most common failure mode on the electrics is sudden and complete stopping. Mechanical pumps tend to do like your electric is and weep but not stop turning, if you let the weep go on the electric it is likely to stop turning but a mechanical will keep pumping till there is no water left to pump. A FEW mechanical pumps have spun off the impeller or something but those a freak occurrences. In general terms a mechanical usually gives more warning of failure than the electric and is easier to get a replacement on short notice.
IMO the electrics are overdone on the LT1 side of things, a LOT of very stupid people were claiming they moved more water and cooled better for a long time and created a false reasoning for using the electrics and you know how things are, once they are popular the popularity breeds more popularity. They absolutely are worth about .1 at the strip especially if used to cool the car between passes BUT they free up that power by moving LESS water and a lot of guys see raised cruise temps by a few degrees because of this and as I said they are more likely to suddenly fail than a mechainical which will usually weep for a long time causing PS slippage which alerts you to the problem.
Since you bought a fresh built engine with an electric though I bet the timing cover is plugged and going back to mechanical now would mean pulling the timing cover to reinstall the drive, likely a new timing set etc so it would be a big project and cost likely as much as a spare electric pump.
The electric is adequate and easy to change.
IMO the electrics are overdone on the LT1 side of things, a LOT of very stupid people were claiming they moved more water and cooled better for a long time and created a false reasoning for using the electrics and you know how things are, once they are popular the popularity breeds more popularity. They absolutely are worth about .1 at the strip especially if used to cool the car between passes BUT they free up that power by moving LESS water and a lot of guys see raised cruise temps by a few degrees because of this and as I said they are more likely to suddenly fail than a mechainical which will usually weep for a long time causing PS slippage which alerts you to the problem.
Since you bought a fresh built engine with an electric though I bet the timing cover is plugged and going back to mechanical now would mean pulling the timing cover to reinstall the drive, likely a new timing set etc so it would be a big project and cost likely as much as a spare electric pump.
The electric is adequate and easy to change.
Thread Starter
Staging Lane
Joined: Nov 2011
Posts: 70
Likes: 0
Not that they die that often but if they do as you know a replacement is not 3 miles down the road and the most common failure mode on the electrics is sudden and complete stopping. Mechanical pumps tend to do like your electric is and weep but not stop turning, if you let the weep go on the electric it is likely to stop turning but a mechanical will keep pumping till there is no water left to pump. A FEW mechanical pumps have spun off the impeller or something but those a freak occurrences. In general terms a mechanical usually gives more warning of failure than the electric and is easier to get a replacement on short notice.
IMO the electrics are overdone on the LT1 side of things, a LOT of very stupid people were claiming they moved more water and cooled better for a long time and created a false reasoning for using the electrics and you know how things are, once they are popular the popularity breeds more popularity. They absolutely are worth about .1 at the strip especially if used to cool the car between passes BUT they free up that power by moving LESS water and a lot of guys see raised cruise temps by a few degrees because of this and as I said they are more likely to suddenly fail than a mechainical which will usually weep for a long time causing PS slippage which alerts you to the problem.
Since you bought a fresh built engine with an electric though I bet the timing cover is plugged and going back to mechanical now would mean pulling the timing cover to reinstall the drive, likely a new timing set etc so it would be a big project and cost likely as much as a spare electric pump.
The electric is adequate and easy to change.
IMO the electrics are overdone on the LT1 side of things, a LOT of very stupid people were claiming they moved more water and cooled better for a long time and created a false reasoning for using the electrics and you know how things are, once they are popular the popularity breeds more popularity. They absolutely are worth about .1 at the strip especially if used to cool the car between passes BUT they free up that power by moving LESS water and a lot of guys see raised cruise temps by a few degrees because of this and as I said they are more likely to suddenly fail than a mechainical which will usually weep for a long time causing PS slippage which alerts you to the problem.
Since you bought a fresh built engine with an electric though I bet the timing cover is plugged and going back to mechanical now would mean pulling the timing cover to reinstall the drive, likely a new timing set etc so it would be a big project and cost likely as much as a spare electric pump.
The electric is adequate and easy to change.
If the pump is leaking from the weep hole the problem is NOT Meziere's fault but the INSTALLERS. The freeze plug that was supposed to be installed in place of the drive bearing is leaking.
Joined: Nov 2001
Posts: 10,023
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From: LT1 land...the "409" of the 90s!
Unless you get unlucky while turning high RPMs 
Snapped the shaft right off the back of the pump in my wifes car last year while doing a few Tuning pulls to 6,900
Snapped the shaft right off the back of the pump in my wifes car last year while doing a few Tuning pulls to 6,900
Thread Starter
Staging Lane
Joined: Nov 2011
Posts: 70
Likes: 0
So are you saying if i take the pump off and reseal the plug i should be alright? Or did the leaking coolant roast the pump too?
Staging Lane
Joined: Jul 2011
Posts: 51
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From: Escondido
If it's leaking from the weep hole on the Meziere pump. it will be the on the black flange that the electric motor bolts to, not on the GM pump housing. Sometime if your engine has not been run for a long time this seals will leak. I would run the pump for about 20-30 minutes after you have warmed the engine up. If that doesn't clear it up call meziere for a rebuild. If the pump is new it might be coverd under the 2 year warranty. Cost is norammly around $100 and around 2 day turnaround time.
Call Mezieres and ask for Jerry
Call Mezieres and ask for Jerry
Thread Starter
Staging Lane
Joined: Nov 2011
Posts: 70
Likes: 0
If it's leaking from the weep hole on the Meziere pump. it will be the on the black flange that the electric motor bolts to, not on the GM pump housing. Sometime if your engine has not been run for a long time this seals will leak. I would run the pump for about 20-30 minutes after you have warmed the engine up. If that doesn't clear it up call meziere for a rebuild. If the pump is new it might be coverd under the 2 year warranty. Cost is norammly around $100 and around 2 day turnaround time.
Call Mezieres and ask for Jerry
Call Mezieres and ask for Jerry
TECH Veteran
Joined: Apr 2008
Posts: 4,985
Likes: 113
OP
I have had the Meziere on since '99 and about 80k miles now. Yours like any WP can fail/leak. As suggested send it to Meziere for the $100 rebuild.
Not sure who makes the Summmit brand (CSR??) and if that connector is same one on Meziere. You could shop for a used Meziere and use that until your existing one gets fixed then use the used one as a spare.
Like Caprice said the EWP's are typically not found in auto part stores so having a spare can make a swap way faster. FWIW I bought a used one 10 years ago for $50 and have never used it but keep it in the trunk with a spare front cover "O" ring. If mine fails I can swap it on the side of the road in 10 min if needed. At some point any WP will fail.
If by chance your motor still has the drive spline on TC and you have the coupler, you could just buy a stock type and slap it on until the EWP get fixed or just deal with the down time as the car is not a DD
I have had the Meziere on since '99 and about 80k miles now. Yours like any WP can fail/leak. As suggested send it to Meziere for the $100 rebuild.
Not sure who makes the Summmit brand (CSR??) and if that connector is same one on Meziere. You could shop for a used Meziere and use that until your existing one gets fixed then use the used one as a spare.
Like Caprice said the EWP's are typically not found in auto part stores so having a spare can make a swap way faster. FWIW I bought a used one 10 years ago for $50 and have never used it but keep it in the trunk with a spare front cover "O" ring. If mine fails I can swap it on the side of the road in 10 min if needed. At some point any WP will fail.
If by chance your motor still has the drive spline on TC and you have the coupler, you could just buy a stock type and slap it on until the EWP get fixed or just deal with the down time as the car is not a DD
IIRC the brass freeze plug included in the w/p kit for the stock w/p housing blocks the weep hole on the waterpump so it's impossible for coolant to leak out. Meziere can rebuild the pump for a flat fee. I think it's around $100. I had this problem and they said it's probably due to the seal drying out (from not being used). My car has sat for long periods of time not being started. However once the car was being driven at least once a week it would stop leaking. If it's leaking all the time regardless then the seal most likely has to be replaced.