[Spridgets] Spridget Water Pump

[cmanuel at wi.rr.com]

I am so sick of the plastic impeller ones.  I went through 2 within 50k miles on my 2000 5 series BMW.  I found a metal one and its lasted a long time so far.

and when the plastic ones break, there is no question what went wrong!

Chris
---- "Timothy H. Collins" <thcollin at mtu.edu> wrote: 
> Professor Peter
> Thanks for the great lesson on Spridget water pumps!
> 
> PPP> They typically are "lubricated for life" as they are sealed at each end.
> Interesting, I assumed the screw into the bearing area was there for 
> periodic greasing maintenance. Maybe I have the "Old type" pump??
> 
> PPP> Takes some time and some tooling.
> I can't imagine that you'd make any money fooling with them unless 
> someone had to have an exact original pump and then of course the 
> pricing structure would be different. Replacements of the aluminum 
> kind are around $25. That can't be much of your shop labor/overhead 
> time not to mention parts.
> 
> The internals of the water pump are interesting and it is sad, to me, 
> that they have become throw away items. This seems to be a small 
> picture of the larger problem in our throw away society. The 
> government is now encouraging folks to get rid of their "old" car and 
> buy new - like that's a small, easy to do, thing. I would think that 
> most families think twice and three times before making a purchase of 
> that size.
> 
> Thanks again. I need to find something else to take apart now. LOL
> 
> Tim Collins
> http://www.flickr.com/photos/12702006@N07/