Electric Water Pump yes or no
- Thread starter Brent Francis
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No electric water pumps on the street, with electric fans I'd upgrade the alternator anyway, what year?
JMO
JMO
rednotch
Founding Member
Up to you, they can live a long time on a "street car" aka a toy that's not treated like a daily driver. now if it was a daily driver type build I would stick with a mechanical pump. Most just run a 130amp
Daily driver type car: no
Weekend toy that gets low miles: sure
What are the specs for the water pump for amps? A 130AMp alt should be able to handle a fan and water pump provided the specs aren't too crazy. The issue with 130A alts is that the supplied pulley tends to be oversizes and spins the alt too slow on a Fox to generate enough volts at idle. They usually need a 2" or smaller pulley swap, but you gotta be careful about overspinning them. The bearings have a 16000RPM limit. It might be ok to exceed them once in a while, which is typical of a street car that tends to stay at lower RPM
Weekend toy that gets low miles: sure
What are the specs for the water pump for amps? A 130AMp alt should be able to handle a fan and water pump provided the specs aren't too crazy. The issue with 130A alts is that the supplied pulley tends to be oversizes and spins the alt too slow on a Fox to generate enough volts at idle. They usually need a 2" or smaller pulley swap, but you gotta be careful about overspinning them. The bearings have a 16000RPM limit. It might be ok to exceed them once in a while, which is typical of a street car that tends to stay at lower RPM
I went to electric water pump, but really only because I had to. If I could find a standard rotation pump that fit a 94/95 timing cover I would have went that route.
IIRC the 55gpm meziere pump pulls less than 10a when it’s running. A 130a alternator should have enough current, even if you’re running an electric fan. I can put my ammeter on and check if you’re that concerned.
There’s really not much drawback to having the electric pump, it’s just not something I would recommend unless you really need to due to your front drive setup. However, they can last for years and years, and are rebuildable.
IIRC the 55gpm meziere pump pulls less than 10a when it’s running. A 130a alternator should have enough current, even if you’re running an electric fan. I can put my ammeter on and check if you’re that concerned.
There’s really not much drawback to having the electric pump, it’s just not something I would recommend unless you really need to due to your front drive setup. However, they can last for years and years, and are rebuildable.
mikestang63
SN Certified Technician
if for some reason the electric pump fails, do you want to take a risk of toasting your engine? Mechanical Water pumps have been rock solid for 30 years on these cars. You will never notice the 10 HP difference.
Manual fuel pumps were used for years because they only needed to pump 5-7 psi, even the electric fuel pumps mounted outside the tank suffered from overheating and failure, I'm not saying he can't use an electric water pump but I wouldn't on a street car, just an opinion.
Electric water pump are for race cars. Again, just an opinion.
What specs would those be? I mean... What am I looking for in the specifications that will assist me with this decision?
I don't daily the blue car, which I bought with one, but the electric pump has done fine on the couple thousand street miles I've put on it. OTOH, I stuck with mechanical pumps on all of the other cars I've owned. Have replaced a few of those in my day. I guess I'm not too worried about it. I *could* overheat the motor, either way, but I never have overheated to the point of engine damage. Just keep a good eye on the gauges every couple times you look at your instrument cluster.
There is nothing wrong with an electric water pump. Lots of electric water pumps on modern cars right from the factory. There has not been a mechanical fuel pump installed on modern cars for over 30 years. (although DI does use a mechanical pump to get the fuel pressure over 1,000 psi, it is fed by an electric pump)
What you have to do is look at gallons per min and amp draw to determine if the pump can flow enough water and if the existing alt can support the added load.
More importantly, make sure that it is wired up correctly. There has to be sufficient wire size, proper crimps, insulation, routing, proper grounds and the correct relay to handle the load.
Most issues with aftermarket parts is due to improper installation of the component and improper wiring.
What you have to do is look at gallons per min and amp draw to determine if the pump can flow enough water and if the existing alt can support the added load.
More importantly, make sure that it is wired up correctly. There has to be sufficient wire size, proper crimps, insulation, routing, proper grounds and the correct relay to handle the load.
Most issues with aftermarket parts is due to improper installation of the component and improper wiring.
Check out the Davies Craig website and read up. I am not affiliated with them at all
In my other project, the new mechanical fuel pump QC has been a real problem for a while. And when this style fails, it fills the crankcase. So, I am using an Airtex external, low pressure model that’s been tested by a lot of owners of the same model of car. With the short life of the box type ones that were commonly available for carbs, I am hoping for a great run of new mechanical pumps soon.
As most electric water pumps are made for short burst racing and cooling off in the pit, flow amount, and duty cycle would be two specs I’d look at before trying one on the street for extended, normal driving.
The meziere street pumps can handle continuous duty without issue. I’ve ran mine for entire days of driving and it does great.
The only thing wrong with good electric water pumps is the price. The guy who put that blue car together knew what he was doing ( kinda, maybe a little )
- Mar 2, 2015
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You'd be surprised how many new cars have electric ( auxiliary ) water pumps. I know a couple guys that have been running electric pumps in their street mustangs for years. One of them has a 460 in his. This is definitely something I wouldn't skimp on. You get what you pay for. I run mechanical water pumps on my cars. Not enough HP recovered to justify the expense on any of my cheap builds. Lol
