Hello everyone
How good is your water pump? I’m sure some of the old timers may know this, but in my endless quest for an optimized cooling system, I stumbled on the following:
Pump efficiency is directly related to the clearance between the impeller vanes and housing raceway. Considering standard clearance between impeller and housing is 0.75 ± 0.25 mm (0.030 ± 0.010 in), here are the measurements I came across an original water pump, an NOS water pump, and an aftermarket Volvo water pump.
1. Original Water Pump – Cast # 7941101660 , came off an original Delorean PRV crate engine with no miles on it. Clearance between housing and impeller vanes: 5.26mm (or 4.5mm in excess)
IMG_0838.jpg
IMG_0839.jpg
2. NOS Water Pump - #07726-030; Clearance – 5.25mm (4.75mm over)
IMG_20190629_074438.jpg
IMG_20190629_074506.jpg
3. Used aftermarket Volvo pump (20k miles) – (common replacement from one of the vendors); Clearance 4.48mm (3.73mm over)
7E243A14-5814-4CDE-AE92-01DB284DCEC2.jpg
Here is where the impeller should be at 0.75mm
IMG_20190709_134306.jpg
IMG_20190709_134254.jpg
A tight clearance ensures higher flow rates reduce the cycle time between the source and sink, especially at idle. Excess clearance reduces the amount of water under pressure that seeps around the impellers. Leakage at that point causes eddy flows and cavitation. For all the money we can spend on big radiators, electric fans, magic cooling fluid, we’re throwing away cooling efficiency if we’re not maximizing flow and pressure. Hope this drives good discussion and solutions.