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Technical Water Pump Lube

Discussion in 'The Hokey Ass Message Board' started by blowby, Dec 24, 2019.

  1. blowby
    Joined: Dec 27, 2012
    Posts: 8,661

    blowby
    Member
    from Nicasio Ca

    Bought some Bars Leak the other day. With 'Water Pump Lube'. How does it lube the water pump, the seal?

    Then, the manual for my pressure washer says to use their 'Pump Protector' fluid after each use, makes the pump last longer. Anyone do that?

    Are we talking muffler bearings here?
    [​IMG]
     
  2. If you are running water instead of antifreeze you really need lube. Water/liquid follows the shaft toward the seal and the lube helps keep your bushing from wearing as well as keeping the seal soft.
     
    dana barlow, blowby and Blues4U like this.
  3. blowby
    Joined: Dec 27, 2012
    Posts: 8,661

    blowby
    Member
    from Nicasio Ca

    Thanks PB. How does it lube the bushing if the seal is keeping it from reaching the bushing?
     
  4. I use water soluble oil although it's getting harder to find, maybe Tractor Supply.
     
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  5. blowby
    Joined: Dec 27, 2012
    Posts: 8,661

    blowby
    Member
    from Nicasio Ca

    OK but how does the oil get past the seal to lube the bushing? Once the seal leaks it's game over isn't it?
     
  6. Truck64
    Joined: Oct 18, 2015
    Posts: 5,325

    Truck64
    Member
    from Ioway

    A local longtime radiator shop guy told me to never use any of that $&@!!, Alumaseal or Bars etc. Maybe to get you off the side of the highway and back home, I guess

    I mentioned to him, you know the OEMs have long put a tablet or two of some kind of stop leak in new cars at the factory, and he said "no, they use a whole sleeve". Not sure what the difference is and why one is OK. He said pepper is OK.
     
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  7. Blue One
    Joined: Feb 6, 2010
    Posts: 11,459

    Blue One
    ALLIANCE MEMBER
    from Alberta

    Not really true.

    See below.

    Water pump bushings don’t typically need lubing because they are made from Oilite bronze which is self lubricating.

    https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oilite
     
    blowby likes this.
  8. lippy
    Joined: Sep 27, 2006
    Posts: 6,825

    lippy
    Member
    from Ks

    This may help. Maybe not. stewart-racing-water-pump-exploded-view.jpg
     
  9. blowby
    Joined: Dec 27, 2012
    Posts: 8,661

    blowby
    Member
    from Nicasio Ca


    Yeah I've been debating using it, haven't put it in yet. Got a weep between pump and block on a late model, not losing much coolant but tired of smelling antifreeze. If it was my hot rod I'd have it apart in minutes but when I look at the crap in the way on this thing..rather get by until it needs a new pump.

    I did a bunch of reading online, its' about 50/5o on how safe sealers are. Unless you read the Bars Leak site, where its 100% safe. :confused:

    Anyway if the bushings are self lubed and protected by the seal, maybe there is seal conditioner in the Bars Leak but the label is misleading.
     
  10. low budget
    Joined: Nov 15, 2006
    Posts: 5,566

    low budget
    Member
    from Central Ky

    Ive had great success with Bars leak a few times, I had a 99 GMC truck that was getting antifreeze in the oil and tried bars leak as I had before.....4 years later it was still going strong when I sold it without a problem. I had a 70s oldsmobile that was shooting a small stream of water outside the block from between the head and block at the gasket, went through the process and sealed it too....also did a old chevy 6.
    I will agree to fix it (rite?) is the best way but Bars with the pellets is a good trusted product for me.
     
  11. lippy
    Joined: Sep 27, 2006
    Posts: 6,825

    lippy
    Member
    from Ks

    How did we go from lubing a waterpump seal to a weep between the pump and block? :D
     
  12. It’s worth a try,,,it works very well.
    Won’t fix everything,,,but then again,,,,what does ?

    Tommy
     
  13. low budget
    Joined: Nov 15, 2006
    Posts: 5,566

    low budget
    Member
    from Central Ky

    Im not sure how lube could get through the seal either if its sealed???
    Maybe it has an additive that saturates into the seal???
     
  14. garyf
    Joined: Aug 11, 2006
    Posts: 283

    garyf
    Member

    For the pressure washer question, I buy one bottle of expensive pump saver. Then use the bottle to fill with r.v anti freeze. It saves the pump from having water sit in it, to rust things up and freezing up in cold temps
     
  15. 28dreyer
    Joined: Jan 23, 2008
    Posts: 1,166

    28dreyer
    Member
    from Minnesota

    The bearings and shaft assembly shown in this drawing contains usually a sealed double bearing. Immediately to the right and not named on the drawing is the coolant seal whose brass body presses into the pump housing on the left and whose flat faced sealing surface on the right side bears on the rotating impeller, creating the coolant seal. Coolant is the lube be it water or whatever makes you feel good.
     
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  16. Driver50x
    Joined: May 5, 2014
    Posts: 421

    Driver50x
    Member

    Bar’s leak or any of that stuff partially plugs up the radiator and the heater core. I don’t recommend using it.
     
  17. blowby
    Joined: Dec 27, 2012
    Posts: 8,661

    blowby
    Member
    from Nicasio Ca

    Well, I bought the Bars Leak for the weep, then asked the parts man about the lube thing. He didn't know, but, I also asked why there are several Bars Leak concoctions on the shelf. He said some are for copper radiators and some are for plastic ones. If you use the wrong one you damage something, I forget. But that was interesting, to change subjects again. :)
     
  18. 62SY4
    Joined: Oct 30, 2009
    Posts: 102

    62SY4
    Member
    from Irwin, Pa

    .

    I agree for most modern water pumps.
    For the guys who never lived this, or ever tried:
    imagejpeg_0_6.jpg imagejpeg_0_5.jpg

    Here is an example of a pump with sealed bearings.
     
  19. BamaMav
    Joined: Jun 19, 2011
    Posts: 6,709

    BamaMav
    Member
    from Berry, AL

    Some older pumps required oil or grease to the bearings, the antifreeze probably seeps enough by the seal to keep the others lubed up.
    My IH farm tractor water pump has a grease zerk on it, manual says use a water soluble grease and gives an IH part number for it. I just shoot a squirt of regular moly grease in it like everybody else probably did that didn't have access to the manual.....
     
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  20. Pump lube was popular when not all pumps had the seal on the inside and some of them still had mechanical seal as opposed to a modern rubber(ish) seal. That said, if anyone wants to run a test buy yourself and your buddy a new pump, one of you run pure water and the other run some sort of libe either pump lube or antifreeze and see whose pump lasts longer.

    Bars leak is not water pump lube.
     
  21. dirty old man
    Joined: Feb 2, 2008
    Posts: 8,910

    dirty old man
    Member Emeritus

    Well, guess I'll tell my Bar's Leak story: Back in the late '60s I was running a limited late model stocker on the area dirt tracks on a very limited budget with 3 of my friends lending their assistance to keep it in one piece and race 2-3 times each weekend while we all held down full time jobs. Pulled on a rusty old homemade trailer with a worn out '62 Chev 3/4 ton with a patched up 283.
    One Friday night a water hose clamp on the truck failed and we blew a hose partly off when we were within a short distance to the track and as usual no time to spare and drove it on into pits and parked. Let the extremely hot engine cool while we did our racing for the night. While I went and collected our small share of the prize money the guys patched things up with begged and borrowed stuff and we limped home with engine blowing water out the overflow. and skipping.
    One of the guys was a heavy equipment mechanic and had some large size cans of Bars Leak on the service truck he worked out of and next day we poured a can in and in a bit the skipping and water loss ceased and we went racing again that night and many more that season, adding more Bars Leak if it started skipping again. At the end of the season we found time to pull the heads. Examination after removal showed cracks to heads in combustion chamber on seven (7) cylinders.:eek:
    I rest my case:)
     
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  22. Truck64
    Joined: Oct 18, 2015
    Posts: 5,325

    Truck64
    Member
    from Ioway

    I have no doubt it works, don't misunderstand. That isn't the point.

    But I think it's kind of like the StopLeak slime people put in tires, maybe it makes a proper repair a bigger pain in the future. Maybe it's no big deal, I dunno. He's a radiator guy, I figure he knew at least somewhat of what he was talking about.
     
  23. low budget
    Joined: Nov 15, 2006
    Posts: 5,566

    low budget
    Member
    from Central Ky

    Maybe he was just putting down his competition:D
     
  24. Truck64
    Joined: Oct 18, 2015
    Posts: 5,325

    Truck64
    Member
    from Ioway

    Well there is that, and he didn't have much good to say about imported aluminum radiators either. He'd just quoted me about $400 to recore a brass original and I allowed that I had a Champion ready to go. I can see where pouring a bunch of goop in a cooling system would maybe make brazing or solder repairs a problem though.
     
    low budget likes this.

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