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The water pump is a simple devices, water pump is the heart of the cooling system and continuously keeps the antifreeze/water mixture flowing through the engine, radiator and heater core.

The water pump which is connected to the fan in your car is installed on the front of the engine. In any case, it runs off a drive belt connected to the crank pulley, so there is something wrong with water pump, check the following ones:

l        Identify the belt and check it for proper tension and cracks.

1) Tighten the belts by adjusting either the alternator or the idler pulley if it is too loose.  

2) Inspect the front of the water pump for leaks of coolant, which is green, or engine oil.

3) Grab the fan and wobble it. If there is play from front to back in the fan, the water pump bearing may be going out.

As is known to all, there is a shaft on which the fan mounts. It drives an impeller, which is inside the coolant passages of the engine. There is an oil passage to the bearing which lubricates it. When the bearing goes bad, the coolant will leak out through the worn out bearing and will drip down the front of the engine. In some cases the impeller will slip on the shaft and the water pump will no longer pump. When this happens the engine will overheat, overheating can be caused by many things but don’t rule out the water pump. In this case the fins may be too worn and not allowing enough circulation throughout the system to keep it cool or the water pump is just leaking past the seal and you have lost too much coolant.

Almost every failed water pump will be the result of a bad bearing. You can hear the bearing squeal when the engine is running, usually. If the belt is tight it is probably a bearing. Listen around to determine that it is not an alternator, power steering pump, or AC bearing that has gone bad. If you see anything leaking out of the water pump housing, it will have to be changed.

Water pumps don’t break as often as they used to, but keeping an eye on your coolant level and changing the antifreeze at the proper intervals will help you eliminate problems to the minimum. A broken water pump will quickly leave you stranded and may cause severe damage to the engine if you try to drive too far without the flow of coolant created by the pump. As always if you are worried about the water pump take it to a reputable garage where they can at least pressure test the coolant system and see if there is weakness in system anywhere.

A water pump is an important part of the engine cooling system. It provides circulation of the engine coolant (antifreeze) through the cooling system (see the top picture).
A water pump pushes the coolant through the passages (water jackets) in the engine cylinder block and cylinder head and then out into the radiator. This helps to keep the engine from overheating; the hot coolant passes through the radiator where it cools down and then returns back to the engine.

A water pump is usually driven by the engine through the drive belt. Sometimes it’s driven by a timing belt. A water pump consists of the housing with the shaft rotating on the bearing pressed inside.
At the outer side there is a pulley mounted on the shaft. At the inner side there is a seal to keep the coolant from leaking out and the impeller that acts like a centrifugal pump (see the lower picture).

Water pump problems
Typical water pump problems include coolant leaks, noisy or defective bearing, damaged or corroded impeller.
Faulty water pump might cause the engine to overheat, which can result in serious engine damage. If defective, a water pump is replaced as a unit.

Is it worth to replace a water pump when a timing belt is being replaced?
Sometimes you might be suggested to replace the water pump at the same time the timing belt is being replaced. In cases when a water pump is driven by a timing belt it’s worth to do because it involves very little extra labor, plus, a water pump is subject to wear anyway. As long as the original parts are being used, I’d recommend to go for it.

Anybody want to go for a swim in a pond of stagnant, sludgy water? No? Why, then, would we expect our fish to be happy in a tank with poor water circulation? Like its cousin the air pump, a water pump is another kind of aquarium pump that will help to create a healthy environment for your fish.

1. Filling up the tank and draining it as well. Aquariums periodically must be drained and filled back up. What better way to do this than to use an aquarium pump?
2. Filtration. Perhaps the most fundamental use of these aquarium pumps is to either move water into the filtration system, or to move the water back into the tank after filtration has occurred. The filter setup in your aquarium, along with the necessary flow rate and head height, will determine the kind of water pump you buy.
* Aquarium water pumps can either be submersible in the tank (as with powerheads) or outside of the tank in the form of an in-line water pump. Submersibles make less noise and are typically easier to set up. However, in-line water pumps are capable of generating more powerful pumping than submersibles, and also will not heat up surrounding water as the submerged pumps unfortunately can (one clear benefit of being outside of the water). For pressure filtering systems, you should use an in-line.
* For a wet/dry filter system, your aquarium water pump will be set up to move the water from your filter back into the greater volume of the tank. You can use either a submersible water pump or an in-line free-flow water pump. Once again, the in-line pump does not carry the risk of heating the water, and can even achieve a better flow rate. But you’ll have to roll up your sleeves and be prepared for some installation fun.
3. Protein Skimmers. In a separate article, we described how air pumps can be used to power a protein skimmer. Aquarium water pumps can serve the same purpose, but with greater gusto. Turbo and Venturi protein skimmers both rely on a water pump.
4. Making healthy currents. It is important in any aquarium to avoid dead pockets of no water movement. In such places where water stagnates, algae will build up. Think of a swamp. Aquarium water pumps are often used to create currents and water movement in your aquarium.

Water movement in aquariums has grown quite sophisticated over the years. Water pumps can be used to power wave makers, which can simulate ocean currents within your aquarium. Particularly if you have a reef aquarium, this feature is a vital investment; corals and saltwater invertebrate species depend upon this kind of water movement in order to feed and to get rid of waste.

As with other aquarium pumps, you can buy a water pump from pet stores and online. If you are just beginning as an aquarist, try to visit a local pet store where the staff can help you navigate the many options and make sense of the features and specifications of the water pumps. When you buy your aquarium water pump, consider the following guidelines.

* Flow rate. Flow rate is the amount of water the pump will move in an hour (measured in gallons per hour, or GPH). The water in your aquarium should be turned over roughly four times every hour; if your tank holds ten gallons, for example, then you would have to buy an aquarium pump capable of sustaining a flow rate of forty gallons per hour.
* Head height. Head height is the vertical distance from the pump to the highest destination of pumped water. Once you have figured out the type of water pump that will work with your filtration system, the head height and flow rate will determine whether or not one of these aquarium pumps will work properly in your aquarium.
* However, when buying an aquarium water pump, it’s always best to err on the strong side. Once you have bought your aquarium’s water pump, you can adjust the flow rate in only one direction: down. To continue using the previous example, buying an aquarium pump with a 40 GPH flow rate at your head height will not be able to compensate for plumbing factors that can decrease flow rate of a pump. Instead of buying the aquarium pump that just satisfies your flow rate and head height needs, buy one that exceeds the requirements.

Typical situation where a ram pump may be used

Momentum building up

Shock wave pushes water into delivery pipe as impulse valve shuts

Water enters the ram from the thick drive pipe and runs out of the impulse valve, which is held open by a spring (or weight in larger pumps). As the momentum increases, the pressure of the water will drag the impulse valve shut. This creates a shock wave inside the ram body, pushing water past the delivery valve (a non-return valve). As the pressure subsides the impulse valve opens and the cycle begins again. This takes place more than 100 times a minute, depending on the head pressure and tuning of the impulse valve, and each pulse pushes up a small quantity of water through the thinner delivery pipe. The air chamber cushions the flow. The tiny snifter valve below the chamber allows a small quantity of air into the air chamber with every pulse to replace air lost into the deliver pipe. A small squirt of water will come out on the recoil.

If you have a water supply (spring, brook or river) below the point where you need the water, and the source is higher than the lowest part of the property, then a hydraulic ram pump may be the solution. Hydraulic ram pumps are powered by a portion of the water running through it. If the cost of a commercial pump puts you off, or the water volume is too little to operate the pump, you can make one to suit your conditions at very little cost.

It is made with 1″ stock brass compression fittings, some inner tube for valves, a few nuts and bolts and some copper pipe, some of which was flattened to use for valve seats. It is held down onto some concrete embedded I-beam with exhaust pipe brackets, cushioned by inner tube. The supply pipe is 3/4″, the delivery pipe 1/2″ and the expansion chamber 1″ diameter. There is a small amount of soldering involved. It pumped a little over 10% of the water a few dozen feet up, making it as efficient as commercial pumps. The small size works with the limited amount of water I have. The basic principle for building it came from a book, but I scaled it down, and made some changes, and avoided welding. The measurments were roughly calculated by rule of thumb: “that looks about right”. In this picture the pump is disconnected from the pipes. It only cost a few GB Pounds for the bend and ‘T’s, the 1″ pipe piece needed was recycled from a skip (dumpster).