Water pump mating surface clean up (1 Viewer)

[Warsaw Ogurec]

Hello,

I am doing a water pump replacement. There has been quite a lot of stuck rubber from the previous WP gasket. I have cleaned it up with a blade scraper and green scoth brite scratch pad. At this point could it be cleaned further, and if yes - what are the more abrasive options that you could recommend? Although, should I try to clean up the inside of the water pump on the block, and if yes - what's the best way to do that? Thanks in advance!

 

[ceylonfj40nut]

That looks great. If you run your finger nail through remaining marks and it does not catch, your good. If you want Take a shop towel soaked in paint thinner or gasoline and go ower the surface with a good finger push.

 

[2001LC]

ACE, HF, Home depot, Lowes, Amazon, ete. have: Nylon Abrasive Cup Wheel, that and a razor blade work well.​

 

[ceylonfj40nut]

ACE, HF, Home depot, Lowes, Amazon, ete. have: Nylon Abrasive Cup Wheel, that and a razor blade work well.​

Not a fan of nylon abrasive cup wheels on aluminum surfaces. Some have a agressive grit number even for nylon. What you have done is good IMHO.

 

[2001LC]

Not a fan of nylon abrasive cup wheels on aluminum surfaces. Some have a agressive grit number even for nylon. What you have done is good IMHO.

Agree, not for aluminum. But works well on block, which is cast iron.

 

[Warsaw Ogurec]

If you run your finger nail through remaining marks and it does not catch, your good

That's the problem, I can feel the surface isn't 100% flat, but I can't tell if there are gaps or bumps, since they are so tiny.

 

[Warsaw Ogurec]

Although, do I need to clean the inside of the pump area or it will wash away once assembled and started? If it needs to be cleaned up, what's the best way to do that?

 

[ceylonfj40nut]

Do you have compressed air handy? Maybe some brake kleen.

 

[Malleus]

I use an aluminum oxide stone on gasket surfaces (sheetmetal, aluminum or cast steel/iron, doesn't matter); the long stone surface prevents dishing due to pressure or time spent in one spot. Full disclosure: I do a lot of things differently from most mechanics, because I spent my formative years in a German machine shop. I also do not typically have to fix my repairs.

I keep a gross of these around for general use:

I don't buy them from Shars, that's just the first image I ran across. MSC and Grainger have them, too.

 

[Malleus]

Although, do I need to clean the inside of the pump area or it will wash away once assembled and started? If it needs to be cleaned up, what's the best way to do that?

What does it look like?

If it has crystals in it from coolant, they may be the results of calcium formation in your tap water. That's why you should only use distilled water in your truck, for all water based fluids. "Purified water" is what you get from your tap; it's a scam. Since calcium soaked water is a weak base, you need a weak acid to remove it; vinegar will work (get the cheap stuff in the gallon containers).
All municipal water supplies use either calcium carbonate or ammonia to prevent bacteria formation in the sewer pipes. That's why CLR is on the market.
Water doesn't have calcium in it naturally (it's just hydrogen and oxygen); it gets calcium in it from soaking through limestone; naturally, that is. That's why Jack opened his distillery in Lynchburg, BTW.

If it's greasy, I'd worry about how that got into your coolant.

 

[Warsaw Ogurec]

What does it look like?

You can see on the pictures- it's not greasy or anything, it's just some dust and stuff from scraping up the mating surface made its way inside the pump area. It's not easy to just wipe it out cause the surface of the pump gap is abrasive. I am probably way overthinking it...

 

[Malleus]

Brakleen