lousy heat fixed - 2 problems
 

As is so often the case with automotive problems, there were 2 problems with my heat and they were not related. 1. A bad thermostat - opened too early, so the coolant barely reached 60C. This was a Behr thermostat which I tested before installing earlier this year, and until recently it was fine. I replaced with a Wahler. 2. A bad auxiliary water pump - open circuit. So I took one out of my parts car - same thing, d***! Then I disassembled the one from the parts car (since it was already out) Lots of oxidized crud and dirty commutator. Cleaned and reassembled, then it worked fine, drawing about 0.3 amps @ no load. Exchanged the pumps. Works great now, go figure. I know now that the pump isn't that expensive (about $60), but I really had to fix it in one night, and the pump is really simple to take apart. The main reason for this post is to state that it pays to look carefully at the potential causes, because multiple failures just seem to happen with automotive systems. I'm not superstitious, just can't help but noticing how often I've seen this type of thing over the years.

glad you got it sorted out! it's amazing that you could take apart a 22 year old pump and clean it and it works fine.. :cool:

fwiw i put in a bosch brand t-stat for the same low temperature problem and after 2 years it still works
(knock on wood..)

Pete,

Can you start a new thread and discuss rebuilding the old aux pump. I seem to remember that the pump has some sort of studs that need to be replaced with bolts and nuts?

OK, but give me a few days. The way I took it apart is not necessarily the way I would recommend it be done now that I understand how it goes together. Moreover, disassembling to fix an electrical problem is easy once you know this, and disassembling to fix a leak may be almost as easy if you know that. I have a few pictures, I'll take some more when I fix pump #2. I didn't replace any parts BTW