Water pump replacement tricks?

[TRXforever]

OK fellas, I have replaced my water pump two times and it still leaks (pours) out of the weap hole. This time I have new everything. Bearing, seal, mechanical water pump seal, replacing it ALL! My question is are there any "tricks of the trade", or certain technique that I should know about? Any pointers as to why I may have boogered up $80 worth of water pump seals so far? I am going to attempt this one more time, before I set the thing on FIRE and roll it into the river! ANY help would be greatly appreciated!

[PORTED R]

I've only done one waterpump
I had Honda replace the bearing ,oil seal and mc seal
I put the shaft in and impeller and added coolant and ran fine

Also u have to lube up that white seal behind the impeller before install ,I've heard they can burn up or crack on a fresh rebuild

[Pumashine]

Also u have to lube up that white seal behind the impeller before install ,I've heard they can burn up or crack on a fresh rebuild

Yep, got to put some petroleum jelly on the white ceramic face or the rubber of the mechanical seal. Do you have the washer behind the impeller in there? These often get lost like the ball on the end of the clutch push rod.

[broken1]

Yep, got to put some petroleum jelly on the white ceramic face or the rubber of the mechanical seal.

I'm getting ready to rebuild my water pump & I'm glad you posted this Tony, otherwise I probably would've ruined it.
Does it matter what kind of petroleum jelly? Is vaseline ok to use?

[Pumashine]

I'm getting ready to rebuild my water pump & I'm glad you posted this Tony, otherwise I probably would've ruined it.
Does it matter what kind of petroleum jelly? Is vaseline ok to use?

Yes Vaseline is the most common. Other brands are the same but less expensive.

[TRXforever]

I do have the #11 infamous tiny lost washer in place!

[TRXforever]

But I did not lube the white face...that sounds pretty bad! When I took the last one out, I could not see any defects in the non-jellied seal. I will be sure to lube this one.

[Pumashine]

Are you using OEM seals? Maybe take a pic of the set up to see if there is something your missing? after installation there should be a slight tension when you spin the WP shaft. The spring pressure of the mechanical seal is pushing against the white ceramic piece. The white ceramic piece is encased in a rubber sleeve. Just hard to understand why its pouring out. Did you run it for awhile to see if the leak stopped?

[TRXforever]

Yes I was running the first heat cycles for break in, and it pissed a little over half the engine ice out of the weap hole (into a gatorade bottle via nifty funnel). It actually got a little worse as the temp was climbing. I shut it down before it got all the way to temp, threw a wrench or two, said a few swear words, snapped open a cold one and called it a night! Installed the SECOND complete kit a few days later, same senario! Now I have the THIRD complete kit with bearing this time! Going to install tomorrow or thursday evening.

[Pumashine]

Are you taking the clutch cover off or doing this on the bike? I replace all bearings and seals when doing a rebuild of the WP.

[TRXforever]

Clutch cover off....always! Kind of difficult to press the "tin plate" of the mechanical seal evenly.

[TRXforever]

I did not replace the bearing on the first two, but everything else got replaced, hope the lube is the key!

[PORTED R]

What style impeller are you running
I know on 85 to 87 the impeller is seperate from the cap nut with a copper washer
Maybe the copper washer is bad or waterpump shaft itself is worn beyond tolerance

[Bio86]

Any coolant in the oil?  Coolant system isn't being over-pressured from a head gasket issue is it?

[TRXforever]

No coolant in the oil, head gasket good! Putting new complete water pump in tonight, fingers are crossed.