Water Pump. Replace or rebuild?

[Skrain]

The packing adjustment nut on my 29 is totally shot, stripped out.
Is it easier to get a rebuild kit and replace everything except the housing, or just to get a "Leakless" water pump from a supplier and replace the whole thing? The pump seems to work pretty well excepting for dripping water from the packing.
And, is there actually such a thing as a "leakless" pump in the first place?

 

[Rex_A_Lott]

Its not that hard to buy the parts and rebuild it yourself, but it does take a little time. The leakless is definitely easier, but it has a seal and sometime down the road it will wear out and will leak, but it should last years and many hundreds of miles. Good Luck

 

[29Cabriolet]

FWIW, although these may be some isolated incidents, here are some less than satisfactory experiences with the "leakless" design.

Quote:
Originally Posted by Tork Tudor View Post
On a recent tour, my leakless waterpump started leaking out the front of the rear seal/bushing. The rear packing nut was a bit loose and so I started tightening it down but if I tightened it too much then the leak got worse.

What is the proper way of making certain that the rear bushing style, leakless waterpump runs leakless. Could it be that I should have added more grease to the rear bushing?

Tork

Quote:
Originally Posted by 29Cabriolet
Same deal with my "leakless" water pump. I returned two of them and rebuilt the original. The rebuild kit I got from MAC's had a seal in the brass bushing. The kit included the stock lead packing rope but I used a lead packing ring I got from Brattons. About 100 miles so far and no leaks.

 

[Purdy Swoft]

I use the rear bushing with a Chicago rawhide seal and the brass packing nut with a seal from BRATTONS. Although the brass packing nut isn't correct for all models, it doesn't stick to the rear bushing like the aluminum repro packing nut does. I won't call names in this case but avoid the packing nut that some sell with the seal visable at the front outside of the packing nut because they don't last very long. I also use the modern style front bearing and sleeve because it better stabalizes the front of the shaft and removes free play.

To grease the pump, I back the packing nut off the rear bushing, grease the rear fitting until greas begins to come out arround the shaft. Put some grease in the packing nut with your finger and replace the packing nut. The packing nut that I use has a seal and needs no packing. The sealed packing nut doesn't need to be super tight but reasonably tight to prevent backing off. Nothing lasts forever but my pumps last a good while, some over 15 years.