water pump on a lt1/lt4 - Off-Road Forums & Discussion Groups

pfunk1974 · #1 05-07-2002, 02:50 PM

Just a gripe, Have a 96 vette lt4 and the water pump went. I am used to the old 4bolt sbc belt drivin pumps. Haven't had much experience with the lt motors. The water pump has no less than 4 hoses hangin from it, thermostat housing, and the temp sensor. not to mention a $300 price tag. They actually use a splined shaft coming from the timing chain gear??????. Is it me, or is that stupid......

#2 05-07-2002, 05:14 PM

pretty much[img]images/icons/tongue.gif[/img] a lot of guys run electrics on the street ok. check out mezzerie(sp?) or shoot a question at one of the lt1 boards

#3 05-08-2002, 12:34 AM

actually it is pretty smart, They have the reverse cooling witch cools the heads first, so you can run like almost 11:1 compresion on pump gas. [img]images/icons/smile.gif[/img]

pfunk1974 · #4 05-08-2002, 12:52 PM

The pump is mechanical, it has a shaft that comes out of the timing chain cover

pfunk1974 · #5 05-08-2002, 12:56 PM

I have a reverse cooling setup on my built motor, it has 10.5:1, aluminum vette heads, and a .525 lift with 305 adv. duration, and on 94octane it makes about 450 horses

#6 05-08-2002, 01:56 PM

I ment you could by a electric...some guys run them to free up some power....free power is good[img]images/icons/smile.gif[/img]

#7 05-08-2002, 06:45 PM

I am not shure if you can electric on an LT1/4.
450HP is pretty good for pump gas. [img]images/icons/smile.gif[/img]

#8 05-09-2002, 08:48 AM

yup they make them....look in a jegs...they are round(look like a mopar pump I believe)

#9 05-09-2002, 08:50 AM

If you can find one to bolt right on to your motor, I think that the electric pumps run around $300 for a streetable one, so if you have to spend the money, why not get some free HP along the way? I think the reason they run the pump with a gear instead of a belt is that there is less friction and thus less parasitic loss in the drivetrain.

BTW, the reverse cooling had some problems...like trying to push the coolant down through the water jackets...if there was ever an air bubble in the coolant it would stick in the water jacket of the head and cause a hot spot. Then the heads would warp and it was just bad. So that's why they went back to a conventional cooling cycle for the LS1 motor.