Any one had problems getting water pump impeller off? Had one that will not come off and one that fell off and chewed fins off.
rx1jim
New member
Yes, I had a problem getting the impeller off the shaft on the engine which I am rebuilding. What eventually worked for me was to apply penetrating oil to the impeller-shaft area then heat the impeller trying not to direct heat onto the impeller shaft. Heat the impeller, apply penetrating oil. There is a rubber-ceramic seal on the back of the impeller so if you apply too much heat, you will damage the seal. I competed a few heat-oil cycles, then I used a screwdriver on each side of the impeller, between the impeller and the pocket machined into the case while the impeller was still warm, I could work the impeller off with the screwdriver (Thanks Mopar1rules for this technique). This worked well. I have learned that you want to apply some low strength loctite (green loctite) to the impeller shaft connection when you reassemble the pump. The loctite prevents the impeller from wobbling on the shaft. The wobbling motion causes the seal washer to wear out and leak. This allow coolant to contact the steel impeller shaft which causes corrosion which then causes the ceramic water pump seal and the oil seal to fail.