Is an electric water pump worth it?
Thread Starter
Staging Lane
Joined: Oct 2005
Posts: 92
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From: the sneads fizzle, NC
Is an electric water pump worth it? I pulled my water pump tonight because it was leaking.I was wondering if I should upgrade to an electric pump or should I just get a stock replacement.$160 dollars doesn't really sound that bad.How much does a stock pump cost?
A remanufactured stock pump is maybe $50 and IMO is the weay to go.
It is pretty foolish to believe a "new" stock pump is better than a reman. I mean you honestly think GM is going to bother still making pumps for an engine that has been out of production a DECADE? Whick means you are buying something that has been sitting on a shelf forever which explains why a lot of guys have them leak immediately upon installation.
Electrics can provide a little dyno and strip gain BUT do so by moving LESS water. MOST of what you will find people using as supporting reasons are a pile of bull. I am not saying they are bad. They do the job just that there is a lot of missinformation about them.
It is pretty foolish to believe a "new" stock pump is better than a reman. I mean you honestly think GM is going to bother still making pumps for an engine that has been out of production a DECADE? Whick means you are buying something that has been sitting on a shelf forever which explains why a lot of guys have them leak immediately upon installation.
Electrics can provide a little dyno and strip gain BUT do so by moving LESS water. MOST of what you will find people using as supporting reasons are a pile of bull. I am not saying they are bad. They do the job just that there is a lot of missinformation about them.
12 Second Club
Joined: Jun 2005
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From: Chitown
I like my CSR Electric pump. But I do believe you have to have the intake, timing cover and timing gears off to get the water pump drive out of the block. I think for a daily driver I would stick with the stock unit, but mine aint that 
Not sure of the flow rates of a stock pump, but it does vary with engine speed, whereas the electric pumps are at a constant flow rate. The meziere pump comes in two flow ratings, with the higher flow rate costing more $$ (of course).
TECH Enthusiast
Joined: Nov 2005
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Originally Posted by koolaid_kid
Not sure of the flow rates of a stock pump, but it does vary with engine speed, whereas the electric pumps are at a constant flow rate. The meziere pump comes in two flow ratings, with the higher flow rate costing more $$ (of course).
2500 hours is a loooong time. I used quality components when I installed my pump and I expect that it will be trouble free for another 3 years when I'm plan to replace it.
I know that some people don't trust electric water pumps; I remember the same type of naysaying when mechanical cooling fans were being replaced by electrics. I wonder if the same naysaying went on when electric fuel pumps replaced the mechanical ones.
As for worth it, if you want another 5-10 hp it's a good bang for the buck mod. If you are on a tight budget and the car is stock use a rebuilt mechanical pump. People spend more money on speed parts that end up providing less of a gain.
Mike
Last edited by aboatguy; Apr 15, 2007 at 08:59 AM.
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The reason I went with an electric was I found a housing already setup with it on Ebay for a good price. If it goes bad, I might go back to a reman stock pump since I have another housing I could use for a core. Unless I could get just get my electric rebuilt without removing the housing from the block (which looks like a good possibility).
Originally Posted by landstuhltaylor
the one advantage that can't be argued is that it gets the water pump away from the opti, so you don't have to worry about replacing that too when it leaks.
Far as the reliability, I know they last a good bit of time and I know mechanical or electric they will eventually fail. The reason I like the mechanical is the slow weeping failure that give you notice and always continues to pump water unlike the sudden total failure of the electric. That combined with the relatively good availability of mechanicals is why I recommend them on the street.
The wet opti concerns are GROSSLY overblown. The opti is a distributor as such if it gets wet inside it will act up, once it dries they also start working again. I wonder how many fools have bought new optis just because theirs was wet and acting up
and the internet told them how bad it was. 
I used to be into offroad trucks and have drowned out HEI distributors that were 4 feet off the ground, give them some time to dry or open them and dry them and go on your way.
you can leave the waterpump gear in the motor...all you ahve tyo do is remove the old one...knock out the pump inside it...then bolt on the csr, put a freeze plug in the back where the gear usd to run it was...then bolt it up and wire it...id say it is the best mod ever done to a lt1...
when you drain coolant you dont ahve to risk overheating it while refilling with water...just turn the key on and it will pump the water out....kinda eliminates the problems with lt1's(air stuck in the motor) and the one that i dont understand (water on the opti)
when you drain coolant you dont ahve to risk overheating it while refilling with water...just turn the key on and it will pump the water out....kinda eliminates the problems with lt1's(air stuck in the motor) and the one that i dont understand (water on the opti)
TECH Enthusiast
Joined: Nov 2005
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Originally Posted by 96capricemgr
.
The wet opti concerns are GROSSLY overblown. The opti is a distributor as such if it gets wet inside it will act up, once it dries they also start working again. I wonder how many fools have bought new optis just because theirs was wet and acting up and the internet told them how bad it was.
The wet opti concerns are GROSSLY overblown. The opti is a distributor as such if it gets wet inside it will act up, once it dries they also start working again. I wonder how many fools have bought new optis just because theirs was wet and acting up
and the internet told them how bad it was. Mike
Stick with stock. You can get rebuilt ones at the local parts stores. They'll take your core and give you a rebuilt pump. They're as good as anything. When my car was 6 spd, with stock water pump and stock radiator, 160 stat, my car rarely got above 170 on the gauge.
Originally Posted by Mike96z
Electric is the way to go, it takes some load off the motor and yes will provide at the least 5 hp. The electric will flow better and can run constantly. Id go this route.
How simple are you people, open the garage door when you run the car
.Do you understand the alternator is driven by the engine? The electrics free up power by moving LESS water than the mechanical does at higher rpms, I have beaten this to death but there are a lot of stupid people out there to try to educate.
axeman there is no high flow mechanical though I have seen stockers advertized as such.
Last pump I bought was a Cardone Reman from Advanced Auto online store for $42.
The pump that I am talking about is at summitracing the part # is NAL-12527741. It is a GM performance part and it cost $195.95 as opposed to the oem which is $135.95. In the description it states that it is a high volume pump. Thanks for posting replies I don't post on this site much.
Originally Posted by axeman
The pump that I am talking about is at summitracing the part # is NAL-12527741. It is a GM performance part and it cost $195.95 as opposed to the oem which is $135.95. In the description it states that it is a high volume pump. Thanks for posting replies I don't post on this site much.
You are buying into marketting BS.
Serving up a steaming pile of bull is the prefered sales tactic over tuely good products and most people are not able to sort out the two which is why there is crap like Hypertech and Granatelli.
Teching In
Joined: Jul 2006
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I'm not picking sides in the debate, but here is an insteresting site that show a little how to, and a before and after dyno run. Don't shoot the messenger, I know dyno number are not everything. But, none the less, at least this a way to measure before and after. BTW, one of the biggest reasons I run a E-pump is for timing set options.
Teching In
Joined: Jul 2006
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