Solution to Chronic Water Pump Oil Seal Leak
Some of you may have read my previous posts concerning repeated water pump oil seal leaks. Basically, my 6 month old Oberdorfer raw water pump started seeping oil from the weep hole in the bottom of the pump housing. I completely rebuilt the pump (seals, shaft, impeller). After about 2 hours of engine operation, the oil seeping started again. I bought a Moyer Marine packless bearing pump, hoping that it's more robust design would solve the problem. It did for about 10 hours of engine operation - then the oil seal failed, and the oil seeping started again. Prior to the oil seal failing, I noticed that grease from the packless bearings was visible from the weep hole - not good. So, I started thinking about the assessory drive. I noticed that there was some clicking noise coming from the assessory drive area. I reasoned that if the assessory drive bearings were failing or severly worn out, enough play might exist to cause the water pump shaft to wobble and subsequently cause premature oil seal failure. Interesting to note that the water seal on the pumps (seal furthest from the assessory drive) never failed. I spoke to Don Moyer and he stated that Moyer Marine had no history of worn out assessory drives causing water pump oil seal failures. Well, I had worn out my options, so I purchased a rebuilt assessory drive from Moyer Marine. I also purchased a rebuild kit and new bearings for the Moyer Marine raw water pump and rebuilt it completely (very easy pump to rebuild, by the way). No more noise exists in the area of the assessory drive. And, the best part is that after approximately 10 hours of engine operation, the oil seal on the water pump has held up - no more seeping oil from the weep hole. I'm keeping my fingers crossed that I won't encounter water pump failure of the same type again. Just wanted to add this unusual scenario to the Moyer archives in case anyone else out there encounters a similarly frustrating scenario.
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