Question on Water Pump and Sealant

[HelpMyLotus]

Can someone verify the cartridge is genuinely better?  Can't the cover be serviced with a standard pump and last 10 to 20 years? 

[Certified Lotus]

I installed the cartridge water pump on my Elan but not on the Europa. Why? The Europa doesn’t have the alternator belt stress on the water pump so I figured it would last longer. Time will tell if I made the right decision.

[Lotuswins]

I bought the cartridge pump from Bean, and he or Ken said the rebuild kit for it is from an Esprit, so a slightly larger bearing should help longevity.  I've had mine on for 30k miles so far, no problems. 

Jerry Rude
4005R

[EuropaTC]

Can't the cover be serviced with a standard pump and last 10 to 20 years?

Yes, it's no doubt a controversial statement but the water pump isn't as bad as internet myth would have you believe. People talk about it because to replace one you need to remove head & sump so it's a major job compared with most other cars. Miles Wilkins touches on them in his TC engine book (and also cartridge replacements) and he claims under-use is more likely to cause them to fail than anything else, citing 50/60K as a minimum expectation.

As already mentioned, belt over-tightness is given as the usual reason for failure on the Elan and of course it's not possible to do the same on the Europa. Miles says the same in his book and cites it as the reason the Europa pumps last longer.    Personally I'm not sold about the belt over tightening rumour because I'd be expecting dynamo/alternators to be going at the same rate if that were the cause, but I do run the Elan belt quite loose, just in case   

Brian

[cwtech]

I bought my TCS in 1974, and the water pump failed after approx 18K miles.

Rebuilt the front cover with a new pump kit.

Pump failed again after approx 12K miles.

I made an o-ringed plug to fit in place of the pump bearing in the front cover.  ....Mounted a B&G circulating pump up front by the radiator.  ...Circulator was driven by a 12v blower motor. ...This was used while doing research.

I had a damaged front cover from a previous mishap. ....I had it welded-up and machined to accept a cartridge-style pump insert which I designed and had a friend machine for me.  ....I had spoken to an engineer at Airtex, and he felt the original pump bearing was undersized for its application, and he supplied me with a larger bearing.  ...This was around 1976-1977, before anyone was making & selling cartridge pumps & covers.  ...I also installed cogged pulleys and belt availablefrom Dave Bean (?) at the time. ...This prevented any belt slip due to belt stretch.

This set-up was still in place when the Europa was parked in 1979 or 1980.

[brucelotus26r]

I like Brian Buckland [Lotus Elan book] idea of making gaskets for the front cover.
I also use Loctite 574 Flange Sealant the stuff Mike Miller [BMW tech guy] uses.

[surfguitar58]

Just in case anyone missed Rob "thehackmechanic's" latest Europa article, here it is: https://www.hagerty.com/articles-videos/articles/2018/03/26/lotus-twin-cam-engine-repair?utm_source=SFMC&utm_medium=email&utm_content=18_Apr_04_HagertyNews

Unlike his prior pieces on the subject, this one is teetering on the edge of optimism. It is up to us, fellow members of the Europa Victims Support Group, to push him over the edge into full fledged enthusiasm and get him to finish his build, if for no other reason than for him to write a piece for Haggerty extolling the virtues of the Europa and in so doing raise their value in the collector market! 

[Certified Lotus]

Rob, I bought a new cartridge water pump from Bean for my Elan so I can relate to your wanting one to eliminate the potential of a problem later on.  But I gotta tell you, for a guy who is on a budget I'm not sure that is were I would have spent my money.  Personally, I would be buying axle hub bearings & seals and a really nice set of new shocks & springs.

Great article by the way!  Keep the faith.

[brucelotus26r]

I don't think you can pull the cartridge out of the Europa with the engine in place?

[Certified Lotus]

Bruce, excellent point! I think you are right......

[jbcollier]

+1 on the stock water pump being just fine and the by far cheaper option.  Just make sure the belt is not tight and it will last a long, long time.  Spend the money saved elsewhere.

[HelpMyLotus]

The day of reckoning has come.  I have the engine out, the head off and the cover on my bench.  All the rebuild parts are next to it.  How in the HECK do you get the old parts out?  I was able to hold the pulley side in a vice and twist the pump a tiny bit.  I heated the pump portion and it got tighter.  Tried to cut the shaft off the pulley side, burned the teeth off my saws all. 

[EuropaTC]

Firstly, it won't move fore/aft because there's a circlip behind the front pulley. Use a 2 or 3 leg puller to get the drive pulley off the shaft and then remove the bearing wire "clip" behind it. This is steel on steel so you can apply some heat if needed to help things along. I can't see you cutting the shaft off without an angle grinder cutting disc.

Best practice now is to heat the cover, boiling water would be find should you have enough available but I've either used a paint stripper hot air gun or before that, a propane torch. (smelly  )  Whatever expansion you can get into the aluminium is good.

Then you can press out the bearing shaft which should take the impeller, seals and bearing with it. You need a press and good support on the aluminium front cover. I used a massive old fashioned  6" vice because you don't need a lot of force, just that it needs to be applied nice & squarely.

Brian