Water Pump Pulley Sheared Off

[mluder]

Well there's your problem.

Any one seen this before?

22656

The water pump axle sheared right off just behind the pulley. I'm not sure what caused it but the pump had been under performing as of late. I have a theory but I won't know for sure until I pull it off and do a autopsy.
It had been leaking anyway (at least I think it was the water pump) so now I KNOW i have to replace it.

I'll let everyone know what I find as I proceed.

Cheers
Steven

[vwdmc16]

My pulley walked off the shaft but never fractured. Damn how tight was your belt? Probably just a flawed steel shaft.:question:

[DMCMW Dave]

That's a new one. I've seen pulleys walk off the shaft but never break like that

[mluder]

It's possible something came loose in the system and jammed the impeller - But there's not very many moving parts in the system so I'm not sure what it could be. Some one else suggested the bearing may have failed.

I'll let you know what I find in my investigation.

Cheers
Steven

[mluder]

My pulley walked off the shaft but never fractured. Damn how tight was your belt? Probably just a flawed steel shaft.:question:

I can't imagine I could have physically tightened the belt enough to cause the shaft to break like that. Short of something keeping it from rotating it's possible it was merely defective steel.

Cheers
Steven

[ALEXAKOS]

a combination of Metal fatigue with
- Belt running too tight
- Pump stalled

[AugustneverEnds]

Where is your pump from? Hoping you don't say SpecialT

[Dangermouse]

I'll go with faulty manufacture of the shaft.

Even if the impeller was jammed, I would expect the belt to just burn off (after a lot of squealing).

I've seen big shafts break off and it is usually initiated by a hairline crack in the shaft that is propagated by vibration or frequent stop/stating of a direct drive. On belt drives it is propagated by the belts being two tight and there is repeated compression/contraction on every revolution.

I've seen direct drive motor twist a shaft off if the impeller jams, but not belt driven ones.

[David T]

I'll go with faulty manufacture of the shaft.

Even if the impeller was jammed, I would expect the belt to just burn off (after a lot of squealing).

I've seen big shafts break off and it is usually initiated by a hairline crack in the shaft that is propagated by vibration or frequent stop/stating of a direct drive. On belt drives it is propagated by the belts being two tight and there is repeated compression/contraction on every revolution.

I've seen direct drive motor twist a shaft off if the impeller jams, but not belt driven ones.

If the pump was leaking for a while the bearings had the lubrication washed out and eventually they seize up. Between that and the belt possibly being overtightened could cause the shaft to break. The belt can get overtightened because as the bearings got harder and harder to turn the belt would start to slip and the logical "fix" is to tighten it so it won't slip!

[SamHill]

Where is your pump from? Hoping you don't say SpecialT

*cough*

[jawn101]

Yeah... this is exactly what I'm afraid of with my weeping pump. Sigh...

I am also "hoping" you don't say SpecialT, but I'm not going to hold my breath.

[mluder]

Where is your pump from? Hoping you don't say SpecialT

I'm not saying its from SpecialT... But I'm not saying its not...
Wherever it's from - I sincerely doubt it's the distributor's fault. This is a failed part and could have come from anywhere.

A friend had similar problems - small leak and the car was running warm. It turns out the pulley was eccentric on the shaft causing it to wobble. He replaced his before it failed. I'm guessing that if it had been left on the car the constant wobble would have fatigued the metal resulting in what I experienced.

Cheers
Steven