choosing water pump packing

christian

christian

Senior Member
My water pump puts out a decent amount of water through the packing nut. I've tightened it down pretty much all the way with really no improvement. The pump is of original type. I'm assuming this means I need to put in some new packing? I've looked through the suppliers and it seems there are several options of packing material:

"Original style". 2 ring set
Teflon strip
Graphite lead foil

Any takes on these, personal experiences ?

I would like to only have to do this once
 
IMHO graphite lead foil.
You would loosen the packing nut, add one wrap and some grease to lube the shaft, retighten the packing nut. I would drain off enough coolant to stop loosing water during the packing install, then after reinstalling the lubed packing, put the coolant back and fill to the level in the radiator the car runs at. then only snug up the packing nut to where the drip stops. then road test,
piece of cake.
SOP would be to slightly lube the water pump after each run, or a bunch of short runs, loosening the packing slightly while idling, a minimal pump of grease and resnug the nut before shut down. Any excess application of grease on the impeller side goes into the water jacket, But dry packing (no lubrication) would not be a good thing.

Let us know how it goes, that is our pay for the free advice.

Bob
 
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Hardware stores have an 1/8th inch cotton rope covered with graphite for old time water faucet valve stems.

Seems like a good idea for water pumps ... not so good, the rope will score the shaft, at least the steel shafts. I have not tried it on the stainless steel shafts.

The water pump shaft turns much faster and for a longer time than a faucet valve stem!
 
Probably no packing will last forever.Any packing that I have ever used will score the shaft in time just like the inner rear axle seals do on the rear axles I used the teflon rope seal from Brattons until they quit offering it Inow use the leak proof packing nut from Brattons and use no packing.
 
Don't use the hardware store packing. Ford himself warned that it would damage the shaft. Think how many revolutions a faucet makes in a year compared to your waterpump. I've heard teflon rope packing might work well and it would not be abrasive to the shaft. I use graphite/foil rings in my pump.
 
yes get the leak proof nut, but if the shaft is bad, or all else is bad go for the new pump. you will be happy in the long run. also a new pump with a stainless steel shaft is as hard as ever. no seal will damage it.
 
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The teflon rope seal that I use to use came in length long enough to do more than one pump. I would wrap it around a new shaft and cut it with a razor blade so that the cut off piece of packing would wrap around the shaft and the ends would meet and tightly touch. I would cut three pieces and off set the joints like piston rings . I greased the packing and just tightened the packing nut enough to hold but not smush the packing severely, In other words it didn't need to be real tight. The pumps that I did this way are still holding up and some were done in the ninties. With all of the pumps, I used a new stainless steel shaft. I used the brass leakless rear bushing with Chicago raw hide seals and the modern front bearing and sleeve. The front bearing and sleeve has less tolerance and removes end play . Better tabilizing the front of the shaft is important. If the front of the shaft isn't stabil it will upset the seal to the water jacket. When I did my roadster and rebuilt my september 29 I used the same parts but used the brass leak proof packing nut and All parts were purchased from Brattons. These two pumps haven't leaked a drop in eight years. The part number for this packing nut is 12600 . Believe me, there is a big difference in quality of some other leakless packing nuts and Brattons is the best that I've found. Don't use the aluminum packing nut because it will stick .
 
When I rebuilt my water pump more than 12 years ago I don't remember if the original shaft was good or if I bought a new shaft, but for starters, make sure the shaft isn't worn, both in the seal area and in the bushing and bearing areas. I dug out the old seal from my brass nut, then installed 2 new lead packing rings, which I'm sure came from Bratton's. Be sure you smear a lot of grease around the lead rings when you install them, or you will have a slow drip. I found out right away as it dripped about 2 drops a minute until I pulled the nut off and greased it good. Since then it hasn't leaked a drop in the 10 years I've been running it on my 28. So, I rebuilt the entire pump exactly the way it was built from Ford. However starting last year I now use the rear bushing with a lip seal in the rear of it. This will help keep the grease and antifreeze seperated.

Oops, I didn't quite build the pump like Ford did. I do use the front locking collar to hold the clearance down to a couple thousandth end play.

If you need a new shaft, you might want to buy one with the impellor already installed and pinned. It isn't that much more money. I had an impellor shatter while pressing it onto a shaft. I was lucky when the pieces went flying that one didn't hit me in the face.
 
I agree wit Tom about the shaft and collar . I use the pinned stainless shaft with impellor from Brattons . For the price, Its not worth the small amount that you would save by trying to use the old impellor and running the risk of breaking it in the process. The collar is just extra insurance but probably a must if the modern front bearing and sleeve are not used.
 
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