[Koppster]

Done with GMB water pumps, just wanting to hear some thoughts on which of these pumps is the best investment. I'm inclined to go with the Flow-Kooler but wanted to ask here first.

Thanks,
Rick

[chrisp]

Flowkooler, what happened to the GMB ?

[Lee]

Aren't all of those just GMB pumps, but with different impellors?

Picture is of a recent FlowKooler I had in hand. GMB housing, with a really pretty anodized aluminum impellor.

[ZeGermanHam]

I have the Edelbrock water pump on my car and like it. No complaints. I still had to clearance the divider plate like all the other pumps out there, but that is no big deal.

[Koppster]

Originally Posted by chrisp

Flowkooler, what happened to the GMB ?

GMB started leaking through the weep hole with less than 1K miles. Full disclosure, I only drive a couple hundred miles a year.

[Scott65]

I currently use the one Lee has pictured. Used the old design Flowcooler before that, and it was still good when I changed to the newer design after ~15 years. I've had good luck (knocks on wood) with them.

[Koppster]

Originally Posted by ZeGermanHam

I have the Edelbrock water pump on my car and like it. No complaints. I still had to clearance the divider plate like all the other pumps out there, but that is no big deal.

I had been thinking the plate being sold with the Edelbrock would be an advantage. Apparently not so as you had to adjust it like any other water pump. Good to know.

[firechicken]

I will add the prw aluminum body water pump to your list for consideration only because I've had one in use for about 10 years with no issues. Mine came with a cast impeller and is much lighter than an iron pump fwiw...

[76TA462]

I've been running the Edelbrock since 2009 with no problems.

[ZeGermanHam]

Originally Posted by Koppster

I had been thinking the plate being sold with the Edelbrock would be an advantage. Apparently not so as you had to adjust it like any other water pump. Good to know.

Yeah, here is the before and after showing the divider plate clearance on my Edelbrock pump. It likely narrows a little bit more from what you see here when installed and compressed by the hardware.

Before:


After:

[Rincon]

Rather than beat heck out of the devider plate opening to reduce the clearance, why not press the impeller off the shaft a few thou. It would solve 2 problems. First maybe you can beat on a tin devider to take up the clearance but it's very difficult to peen away at a stainless devider and take up the clearance. Also if your only peening the metal at the divider plate opening . there still is a lot of clearance along the face of the impeller and the devider plate. I don't know. Seems like a lot of impresice beating of a devider
Plate when just pressing the impeller off the shaft a few thousadths would work for tin and stainless. Puts the impeller right where you want it. I dunno.

[tom s]

I tried one 8 bolt flocooler over a factory,absolutely no diff.I continue to use factory cast impellers with no issues.One car had a 4 bolts system,changed to 8 bolt with no improvement and tried the FC on it with again no improvement.FWIW,I had no over heating problems with the 4 bolt.421 HO in a 62 GP with factory radiator and factory shroud.The 421 SD engine in the 63 Lemans still has a 4 bolt on it for like 20 years now.The 428 RA V engine has a factory 11 bolt with a factory shroud and a factory 350 auto radiator and has never had a over heating issue with at least 4 diff engines in it.FWIW,Tom

[Koppster]

So I've decided to go with the Flowkooler, price being a factor. Started disassembly while waiting for parts. Thought the pictures below might be interesting, water pump last changed 5-6 years ago along with timing cover.

[92GTA]

I've been happy with my Flowkooler for years then went to the electric HD (42gpm) Meziere. Never had a problem with it.

[92GTA]

I forgot to mention, for those who may find this thread and want to consider electric in the future, the Meziere does not need any plate indexing. It has a billet aluminum plate built into the pump that's perfect fit to the impeller and is all 1 unit. That may be why I'm so happy with the cooling now after switching from the Flowkooler even thought I indexed my old plate as well as I could.

[Chris65LeMans]

Do electric water pumps operate at high speed all the time? - to help those of us with temp creep in stop and go traffic?

[92GTA]

Yes, or they can be PWM with a controller. I bought mine to keep cool in city driving and to run after engine shutdown a bit.

[Chris65LeMans]

I had to Google PWM, haha. That 42 gpm pump sounds like what I need - it’s warming up here in California. Today, I drove up a fairly steep toll road - about 4 miles, 800 feet of elevation gain at 75 mph. She didn’t heat up nearly as much as sitting at a stoplight earlier - go figure.

[Lee]

Originally Posted by Chris65LeMans

I had to Google PWM, haha. That 42 gpm pump sounds like what I need - it’s warming up here in California. Today, I drove up a fairly steep toll road - about 4 miles, 800 feet of elevation gain at 75 mph. She didn’t heat up nearly as much as sitting at a stoplight earlier - go figure.

I've used several DC Controls PWM controllers now. I've got one that has worked great for over 10 years now, and have not heard of any that I've installed that have had a problem.

I used one that controlled my fan AND water pump. VERY consistent running temps for the engine. Plus I had a switch wired-in to manually turn them both on, which was great for cooling the engine between runs.

http://www.dccontrol.com/constant_te...ontrollers.htm