Post by philosophydoc on Jun 11, 2011 16:44:44 GMT -6
Went to clean out coolant (bike has been in garage, not running for 2 years) and nothing came out when I pulled the drain screw out. Pulled hose off inlet to impeller, and found the impeller cover tube full of calcified gunk.
Removed impeller cover, cleaned it out with a steel brush, inside and out:
Pulled impeller off (remember - left hand threads) and some calcified gunk there, but not nearly as bad. Cleaned off impeller, looks good...here's the back side, and as you can see the seal washer is fine:
I wiped off/cleaned up the water pump...have no desire to pull the entire pump, but will if necessary. My question concerns the following picture ... see the greyish stuff (looks like plumber's putty, but is harder, and is deteriorating) -- what is that?
Helix manual has nothing listed, only points to "mechanical seal" which to my eyes appears okay. Should there be some sort of sealant smeared on here?
Three questions:
(1) Is there any reason not to simply scrape this grey gunk out and reinstall impeller?
(2) The gasket for impeller cover is 90% intact and good...can I smear some "Form-a-gasket" over the 1/2 inch that's not good and be okay, or should I get a new gasket?
(3) And the big question -- given the gunk I found, is it necessary to pull the entire water pump? Obviously I want to make sure the cooling system is clean, and I am wondering if I need to pull the entire pump or if I can re-install everything and flush the system out (using some kind of cleaner -- suggestions?)
I cannot "turn" the water pump by hand, but I have no idea if I should be able to...
Since I bought the scooter in parts, I cannot tell you if it ran hot beforehand, etc. It had 137 miles on when it busted a rocker arm, and the original owner tore it apart, replaced the rocker arm, then lost interest in it, sold it to me, and I stored it indoors for 2 years until now.
Thanks in advance...
Removed impeller cover, cleaned it out with a steel brush, inside and out:
Pulled impeller off (remember - left hand threads) and some calcified gunk there, but not nearly as bad. Cleaned off impeller, looks good...here's the back side, and as you can see the seal washer is fine:
I wiped off/cleaned up the water pump...have no desire to pull the entire pump, but will if necessary. My question concerns the following picture ... see the greyish stuff (looks like plumber's putty, but is harder, and is deteriorating) -- what is that?
Helix manual has nothing listed, only points to "mechanical seal" which to my eyes appears okay. Should there be some sort of sealant smeared on here?
Three questions:
(1) Is there any reason not to simply scrape this grey gunk out and reinstall impeller?
(2) The gasket for impeller cover is 90% intact and good...can I smear some "Form-a-gasket" over the 1/2 inch that's not good and be okay, or should I get a new gasket?
(3) And the big question -- given the gunk I found, is it necessary to pull the entire water pump? Obviously I want to make sure the cooling system is clean, and I am wondering if I need to pull the entire pump or if I can re-install everything and flush the system out (using some kind of cleaner -- suggestions?)
I cannot "turn" the water pump by hand, but I have no idea if I should be able to...
Since I bought the scooter in parts, I cannot tell you if it ran hot beforehand, etc. It had 137 miles on when it busted a rocker arm, and the original owner tore it apart, replaced the rocker arm, then lost interest in it, sold it to me, and I stored it indoors for 2 years until now.
Thanks in advance...