The Series Land Rover Water Pump - Repair & Replacement
A Series Land Rover is known for keeping its cool, but it can't if the water pump fails. Ominous signs of impending failure are water leakage near the top fan belt pulley and intermittent unpleasant noises coming from near the front of the engine, which vary with engine speed.
The pump can be replaced as a complete unit, or a repair kit consisting of impellor blades, bearing and seal can be used. It's quicker and easier to replace the complete unit but this costs about 50% more than the repair kit. [Note: there are several stud patterns for the water pump housing on the 2.25 litre engine so be careful to get the correct repalcement].
One of the golden rules of Series Land Rover ownership is that you don't overtighten the fan belt as this leads to premature failure of the water pump's bearing.
To remove the water pump, the radiator, fan belt and water pump pulley should be removed and the clip securing the water by-pass hose must be loosened.
Once the nuts, bolts and spring washers have been removed from the pump casing, the water pump unit can be removed.
To fit a replacement unit, remove any remaining gasket material then use a new gasket smeared lightly with grease and reverse the removal procedure.
If a repair is to be made then the spindle has to be pushed out through the impellor using a hammer and drift. The new spindle, bearing and seal are then pushed in taking care to support the pump housing evenly during the process. The impellor should have a 25 thou of an inch clearance between the blades and the housing.
Your Series Land Rover is now set to run cool once again.
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