Improving water pump access

[jhwelch]

I had this idea the other day and wanted to share it with anyone who
has (like me) an awful time getting to their water pump on the back of
the engine.

I don't know if it's possible to just purchase the bracket that Indigo sells
to side-mount a second water pump so that the belt that drives the
alternator also drives the pump (I have this bracket for my FWC pump).

But if you can get just this bracket you can then removed your rear-mounted
and hard to access water pump and mount it next to and below the
alternator in a spot that gives you better access to it.

You'd also need to have a plate fabricated to seal up the opening at the
back of the engine (I'm guessing a machine shop could take a sample
gasket and product a plate in stainless steel).

-jonathan

[Dave Neptune]

Water pump

Jonathan, that sounds like a good idea where access is very limited. However it is a problem adjusting enough belt tension to keep it driving all the time. Another down side is that you can still run on the batteries if you loose the belt until you run out of juice (battery), I had to do this for a 25 mile run once since I had the wrong replacement belt aboard. Without the stock drive you can only run a few minutes before things begin to overheat, which is OK for a quick manuver.

Dave Neptune

[jhwelch]

Shoot, I posted my idea yesterday after a bit of a rough trip and wasn't
thinking things through -- you'd also need to buy another pump, one
that is driven by a pulley (Don sells his pump in both versions), so
it's probably too great of an expense for most people to try this out.

Is it possible to carry too many spare parts?

-jonathan