UPDATE: Silver discharge from water pump pulley

[30RoadTom]

I have removed and disassembled the water pump to find the source of that silver discharge. The water pump shaft looks OK and the grease in the bearings is black, so no grinding in there. Although I am concerned about the 'ears' of the impeller which seem to be worn down, though I can't find any matching wear spots inside engine. The inside of the fan pulley has obvious wear, but aside from the missing paint there is not much metal missing. The outside nose surface of the pump does not really show any wear. You have to look closely at the ground down weld seam on the top of the housing to see a small area that is slightly more shiny than the rest of the seam. This must be where the pulley was contacting the housing. So it seems my biggest problem is the amount of grease coming out of this area (with just enough metal in it to color it silver). Enough where there are now little specks of silver grease all over the inside of the hood. I intend to use a shaft collar with nylon washer on reassembly to eliminate the horizontal movement of the shaft. I'm also going to try the new type neoprene seal on the packing nut instead of the old style rope packing. Do you guys think that by installing the collar, and reducing the horizontal movement, would be enough to greatly reduce the amount of grease escaping? I don't want to replace the shaft unless I have to and I don't want to disassemble the bearing to replace the felt washers if I don't have to. Thanks for your input.

 

[2manycars]

Looks like you found the cause. I like to use the collar to restrict shaft slop. I also like to use the rear bushing with the neoprene seal to keep water out of the bushing. Overgreasing the front bearing will cause that seepage you are concerned about.

 

[ScottNW/Ohio]

Looks like too much end play - the silver you are seeing is the water pump pulley grinding against the water pump housing (the pulley is aluminum, and softer than the cast housing)
I did the same thing with mine - a shaft collar and a nylon washer to cut the end play down to a minimum (.005/.010)
The shaft and the impeller both look OK - some impellers are cut like that.
I don't think you'll have to mess with the bearing or the felt washers

 

[Tom Wesenberg]

Rather than the packing nut seal, I'd buy the rear bushing with a seal on the rear of it. That way you keep the coolant out of the grease and the grease out of the coolant. Just keep the lead packing in the front nut and leave it slightly loose. That way when you grease the rear bushing the old grease will push out the front rather than try to get into the coolant.

 

[ctlikon0712]

I had to grind some of the casting flash off my water pump housing to keep it fom contacting my new Aluminum fan. I think that they cut the tolerances close on the fan to give it as much matl. thickness for strength as possible. Not all pump housings have a problem with contact.