I removed My leaking Water Pump and found the Pump was made in Japan (no makers name) and has a sheet metal impeller. See pic

I know a lot of people don’t like Water Pumps with the sheet metal impellers but I have had the car for 8 years and have had steady temps on the gauge and never over heated (till now that it started leaking) so having a sheet metal impeller is not the issue that People make of it.
On my Volvo Diesel the old pump had a cast impeller and the new one had a sheet metal impeller; again the sheet metal impeller has never caused an issue.

Unfortunately My Wife was driving the Car at the time. Said it over heated and she pulled over and let it cool then drove again. It got hot again and she again pulled over and let it cool. She never told me of the incidents.
The next day she took the car to work 2 miles away. Came home and at that point told me about the overheating. So I don’t really know if the Engine has survived or not.

I ordered a Gates Water Pump at $31.50 from eBay. Don’t want to spend the money on the finest water pump to find out if the Engine is no good.
The PO apparently broke off one of the Water Pump Bolts but it has not leaked from them in 8 years.

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84 300D, 82 Volvo 244Gl Diesel

I think the biggest threat there is neglect of the cooling system causing the stamped blades to rust away completely. I have seen water pumps with stamped vanes that were totally GONE after the owner left the coolant way past expiration and only came in once the car started overheating.

I wouldn't sweat the sheet metal impeller. Obviously a cast one would be better but it's not a deal breaker. I think most of the critical difference is in the effects of corrosion in a neglected system - it's going to take longer for a cast impeller to corrode to the point of failure.

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Current Stable

• 380SL (diesel)
• Corvette C5
• Manx
• Baja Bug
• F350 Powerstroke
• Auburn Boattail Speedster replica

There is also the sheet steel Freeze/Core Plugs in the Block to worry about if the cooling system is neglected; at least when you look at a pic in the parts catalong they look like they are steel. And, a Water Pump is a lot easier to change then the Freeze/Core Plugs.

Also notice that that some of the under the Hood on the Fire Wall Heater Tubes are Steel.

8 years ago when I got the Car the Bypas Hose was seeping so I changed that and I also changed the Radiator Hoses and I believe I changed the Coolant at that time. Since that time I have done nothing to the Cooling System.

On the Volvo Diesel I have not done anything to the Cooling System since the Water Pump was replaced back somewhere around 1993.

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84 300D, 82 Volvo 244Gl Diesel

OK I recieved the Gates Water Pump part #41160 the box of whic is marked made in China and there is larger mad in China sticker on the Plastic Bag that the WP is in.

Gates like AC Delco apprenly sells stuff made in China.

As you see from the pics it does have the cast Impeller the fins of which seem a little minimal.

The gasket that came with the Pump was hard and cracked due to the way it was packaged with the Pump flange laying on the gasket.

Don't know about fitment yet and will try to install it on Sep/25/15.

After that I hope to find that My Wife has not ruined the Engine.

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84 300D, 82 Volvo 244Gl Diesel

The ones I'd worry about have plastic impellers. BMW started using those in the '90s and then had problems, so the replacements came with steel impellers.

Happy Motoring, Mark

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DrDKW

Funny, two months ago I got the exact same Gates water pump and it has stamped vanes. I don't remember the country of origin. So far no complaints, although I replaced the entire cooling system with new parts all at once and something in there has made it run 5-10c warmer than before and that may or may not be the component that's making it do that.

-Rog

I filled it up with Water yesterday to see if there was leaks. No leaks but it seems like it is running a little hotter then before.

Drove it only a bit to day and the temp seems to have normalize to about where it was before but sitting at idle it climed a bit more then it normally would have.
Did not have time to drve it extensivly.

It also had a slight miss for a bit and then later it rocked a bit at idle but later both went away. I am wondering if the Head Gasket developed some issue due to the overheating but I see no bubbles in the Coolant Recovery Tank so far.

I have also decided to replace the Thermostat so I might not be putting coolant in until I get it.

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84 300D, 82 Volvo 244Gl Diesel

Usually it takes a bit more heat to kill these heads, luckily she knew to pull over and let it cool....If she just said hell and drove home, I would say the head is bad....but if it ran out of coolant do to the leak....It can be a possibility...

I am sure you know this but, blow the radiator out....use a high pressure nozzle and fire it threw the radiator from the fan out towards the front of the car...If there is ac condenser....and fan....stuff can build up between all them....wouldn't believe the crap that gets stuck in the radiator....mine on my euro looked clean and I have sprayed it out...but when I removed it and tapped it on the truck...enough small stones fell out to use in a betta bowl lol

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Those are the worst. Had one in my '01 540i. The impeller on mine exploded/shattered one day. The sudden coolant pressure spike took out the upper coolant hose's plastic end. Got lucky that the "low coolant" light didn't come on until I got in the driveway and that the engine didn't overheat.

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1979 300D 040 Black on Black - 1985 300D Maaco job (sadly sprayed over 199 Black Pearl Metallic) on Palamino

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The prolem their is that if their was no Coolant pulling over and letting it Cool down and driving again could still kill the Engine.
I think a big help was likely that the Oil Cooler is seperate from the Radiator.

My instructions to my wife were to pull over and not move the Car and call me and or the Auto Club. But, she had an appointment to pick up paperwork for a job.
Those instructions came after she ruined My Van Engine in the same manner. Ruined the Crank, a Rod and slighlty scoured up the Cylinders on it. Compressed all of the Hydraulic Valve Lifters and ruined the Camshaft bearings.Had to do a partial rebuild but the whole engine had to come out of the Van.

On the Van the Oil Cooler was built into the Radiator and the Oil was clealy fried. Apparetly there was still enough Coolant to circulate through the Block but not much in the Radiator to cool the Oil. So things that were lubed by the Oil took a hit and the Heads were not even warped beyond reuse.

My Wife also never told me about the Rod knock. I did not find out till I got in and started to drive.
I had not had to rebuild an Engine since about 1992. Since that time my mental and physical powers have suffered making the job several times more difficult. In short I did not enjoy it at all.
When I worked on the Van I was too tired to do the other things I was supposed to do so all that piled up on me to.

Also not having the Van kept us from moving cheaply into the other House we are supopsed to be moved into. Fortunately I own the House I am in and the House I we are supposed to move into.

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84 300D, 82 Volvo 244Gl Diesel

You may see higher temp readings after any work on the cooling system due to air in the system. The temp sensor is high on the head, so can sit in a bubble and indicate higher than the actual coolant temp. If you drive the front up on ramps and loosen the upper radiator hose until coolant comes out the top, you can get all the air out. Otherwise, it will eventually sweep thru if you keep the reservoir full.

I wouldn't worry about the sheet-metal impellor. Several of my old 60's cars have one and show no corrosion. I use Evans Waterless coolant in my 300D's now, so no concerns. The sheet-metal probably allows more flow. Biggest concern is that you don't bend the blades so they drag.

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1984 & 1985 CA 300D's
1964 & 65 Mopar's - Valiant, Dart, Newport
1996 & 2002 Chrysler minivans

I got a new water pump from the dealer and it was also made in japan

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1983 300CD Turbodiesel

Made in Japan now is a mark of quality....bout the same as Germany.

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[SIGPIC] Diesel loving autocrossing grandpa Architect. 08 Dodge 3/4 ton with Cummins & six speed; I have had about 35 benzes. I have a 39 Studebaker Coupe Express pickup in which I have had installed a 617 turbo and a five speed manual.[SIGPIC]

..I also have a 427 Cobra replica with an aluminum chassis.

Since this old thread was dug up I guess I can correct my earlier post in that the old temps I was seeing were too low and the result of a broken thermostat. The new, higher temps were correct and the water pump has been great.

-Rog