I thought this would be a good mod also but is anyone using it on a DD? I don't remember where but I read recently that Brenspeed reccomends them for track use only. I would like to know what the downside to having one of these on a street car would be.
I run one because I have a supercharger---so if I toss a belt for some reason, I can still drive the car to get someplace safe. With the stock water pump, if you throw a belt your going to overheat in minutes. I know one guy that was able to drive 20 minutes and make it home only because he had the electric water pump---would have never made it without it. Obviously if your n/a, you'll never have to worry about tossing a belt, but with superchargers it is a possibility and I even carry an extra belt in the trunk.
I have heard of some people carrying an extra relay for the water pump, but I haven't and mine is a daily driver--I have 71K miles, and have put about 12k mile on the electric water pump so far.
I have one also with about 8K on it. But I don't drive it every day. I've had no problems at all and did notice that it runs a little cooler according to the stock gage then with the stock one.
I've had mine on for almost 2 years and 13k miles. I run it a lot at the track to cool down and never had any problems on the street. As much racing as I do it's probably equivalent to 50k miles of normal driving. the pump runs almost constantly during eliminations which can be hours if I'm actually winning
I highly recommend installing with the additional relay. It will extend the life of the pump and make it more reliable by running on mit's own circuit.
there are a couple ways of wiring it which you can find on the various forums.
What about HP numbers or TQ? Is there any real boost, I know that a cooler engine will run better, last longer and should make more power but are we talking about 2-3 RWHP? I would think this would be a help in low end TQ more than anything but don't know anyone that has ever had one.
The reason use see these pumps at the track all the time is for cooling when the motor is off. Like spyder said he runs his between eliminations. With a stock unit you cant run coolant through your motor unless the motor itself is running. With an electric pump you place a fan in front of the radiator and turn on the pump, therefore cooling the motor with the coolant running. Also, as mentioned horsepower is freed up by not having to turn another accessory. These motors are no different than anything else ever used on a vehicle. A motor for the radiator fan, heater, etc. will go out eventually. Just when it gives up the ghost no one knows.
Lets not also for get that the parasitic drag reduction on the accessories not only adds horsepower, but will help with fuel economy as well. I'd like to see the resuls of an Electric Water pump, combined with an underdrive crank pulley. I bet that would free things up quite a bit.