Universal Kubota water pump failure.

Skipper

Skipper

.
Oct 9, 2008
1,742
Bristol 29.9 Dana Point
Universal M18.
I just installed the coolant pump new in 2015. Original Kubota part.
Now it’s leaking from the weep hole. It spit about a 1/2 teaspoon out when I fired the engine today for a few minutes to run it after sitting a month.
Also it’s rusty coolant dripping, but I open the expansion tank and it’s all green. I replace the coolant about every 2 years.

It’s been about 150 hours. 5 years.
The original one from 1984 lasted 1,300 hours and 31 years.
Is this new one failing just a fluke?
Why the rusty coolant color at the weep hole?
 
sailme88

sailme88

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Jan 19, 2010
1,271
Catalina 34 Casco Bay
Are you saying the raw water pump or the fresh ? Rusty sounds like raw.. Both pumps have weep holes..
 
Skipper

Skipper

.
Oct 9, 2008
1,742
Bristol 29.9 Dana Point
sailme88 said:
Are you saying the raw water pump or the fresh ? Rusty sounds like raw.. Both pumps have weep holes..
Click to expand
I was careful to say “coolant pump” to avoid that type of confusion. :)
Coolant, as in Prestone.
 
sailme88

sailme88

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Jan 19, 2010
1,271
Catalina 34 Casco Bay
Skipper said:
I was careful to say “coolant pump” to avoid that type of confusion. :)
Coolant, as in Prestone.
Click to expand
Realize what you said. Just verifying. Age of the pump is no indication of life expectancy. Many, many water pumps these days are rebuilt. Your replacement may just be one. The weeping from this pump is designed to indicate a seal failure before it's too late. Oxidation occurs even in a glycol environment. Sometimes, and I say sometimes if you remove the fan belt and take hold of the pulley you can appreciate play in the shaft. If so, you do need a new pump..
 
Skipper

Skipper

.
Oct 9, 2008
1,742
Bristol 29.9 Dana Point
sailme88 said:
Realize what you said. Just verifying. Age of the pump is no indication of life expectancy. Many, many water pumps these days are rebuilt. Your replacement may just be one. The weeping from this pump is designed to indicate a seal failure before it's too late. Oxidation occurs even in a glycol environment. Sometimes, and I say sometimes if you remove the fan belt and take hold of the pulley you can appreciate play in the shaft. If so, you do need a new pump..
Click to expand
Thank you.
It was an original Kubota part. I’ll try to attach pic of it packaged.
I understand the weep hole. Hence my identifying the pump as having failed. My question is, is such a relatively quick failure common?
I’m guessing that the bearing rusted, causing the red color. So that means the seal breached. Seems odd considering the healthy longevity of the original pump.
 

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kloudie1

kloudie1

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Nov 6, 2006
10,048
Hunter 34 Mandeville Louisiana
My opinion is that 150 hours is not normal.. That one had a bad seal from the beginning .... only way the bearing could have rusted is if the mechanical seal was leaking/weeping from the beginning or close to it.. I see the brand name on the part but could it be a cheap knock off that someone marketed as an OEM part?
 
Tom J

Tom J

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Sep 30, 2008
2,319
Catalina 310 Quincy, MA
Skipper said:
Seems odd considering the healthy longevity of the original pump.
Click to expand
Was the new one made in China? Unbelievable how many household items, batteries, car parts, hardware, etc. have failed recently that were made in China.
 
Richard19068

Richard19068

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Jun 11, 2004
1,733
Oday 31 Redondo Beach
So you paid through the nose to get an original OEM part only to have go bad in, relatively , short order. I would hope that it is just a fluke. I'd be upset but unfortunately there is not a lot you can do .
I went thorough the same thing (with an 1985 M-18) and decided to go with the aftermarket coolant pump from Kumar Brothers for less than half the price. I felt I was gambling but it's been about five years and probably 500 hours and so far so good (knock on wood).
 
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Tom J

Tom J

.
Sep 30, 2008
2,319
Catalina 310 Quincy, MA
Richard19068 said:
So you paid through the nose to get an original OEM part only to have go bad in, relatively , short order. I would hope that it is just a fluke. I'd be upset but unfortunately there is not a lot you can do .
I went thorough the same thing (with an 1985 M-18) and decided to go with the aftermarket coolant pump from Kumar Brothers for less than half the price. I felt I was gambling but it's been about five years and probably 500 hours and so far so good (knock on wood).
Click to expand
Good to know. There is a similar situation with the Universal raw water pumps. I replaced the original Sherwood pump with an Oberdorfer, and it is superior in every way, especially in access to the impeller, at a fraction of the cost.
 
FastOlson

FastOlson

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Apr 8, 2010
2,087
Ericson Yachts Olson 34 28400 Portland OR
Those closed-cooling-system pumps, from a Universal/Westerbeke dealer, are expensive. I priced one out, just to have a spare, about 20 years ago and it was around $300. I did not buy one.
They are, OTOH, a metal vane pump and should last for many years or decades. Ours was working fine with no leaks or seeps when I replaced the whole drive train in 2018, with about 2300 hours on it.
There should be some recourse i.e. "warranty" via the pump vendor. No harm in checking, anyhow.
 
capta

capta

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Jun 4, 2009
4,905
Pearson 530 Admiralty Bay, Bequia SVG
Since the pump is aluminum on a steel block, it might be because you haven't changed the zinc in some time.
 
Richard19068

Richard19068

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Jun 11, 2004
1,733
Oday 31 Redondo Beach
capta said:
Since the pump is aluminum on a steel block, it might be because you haven't changed the zinc in some time.
Click to expand
I wasn't aware the pump had an anode. Do you mean the one in the heat exchanger? Is there another one somewhere on the engine? Or do you mean the main anodes on the prop shaft / strut or wherever?
Thanks.
 
sailme88

sailme88

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Jan 19, 2010
1,271
Catalina 34 Casco Bay
Tom J said:
Good to know. There is a similar situation with the Universal raw water pumps. I replaced the original Sherwood pump with an Oberdorfer, and it is superior in every way, especially in access to the impeller, at a fraction of the cost.
Click to expand
Oberdorfer left NY for Michigan in MARCH.. Michigan shut them down. I needed a new raw water pump. None to be had. Ordered on in August for September delivery. They hadn't finished tooling up. It finally came the day before Thanksgiving...
 
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FastOlson

FastOlson

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Apr 8, 2010
2,087
Ericson Yachts Olson 34 28400 Portland OR
ggrizzard said:
What do you mean "Michigan shut them down "?
Click to expand
I am also curious as to the meaning.
And, in my decades of replacing impellers on our former Oberdorfer pump, I did not ever find an anode installed in it -- have never heard of one.
Where is it located?
(There is an anode located in the heat exchanger, tho)
 
Hayden Watson

Hayden Watson

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Apr 5, 2009
3,075
Catalina '88 C30 tr/bs Oak Harbor, WA
FWIW, I had the coolant pump fail on my M25XP about 15-20 years ago and the replacement is still working fine.
 
sailme88

sailme88

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Jan 19, 2010
1,271
Catalina 34 Casco Bay
ggrizzard said:
What do you mean "Michigan shut them down "?
Click to expand
Well there was this thing in 2020 called COVID. You may have heard about it. One of catch phrases was " Essential Workers'... Michigan early on had high transmission rates.. a relocating company was not about to be granted ESSENTIAL status. Prior to the move, inventories were allowed to dwindle. Then COVID.. They had already left NY and now were the new kids on the block in MI.. Sometime in early summer they were allowed to start tooling up. BUT, they were shut down and not allowed to do anything...
 
capta

capta

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Jun 4, 2009
4,905
Pearson 530 Admiralty Bay, Bequia SVG
I believe there should be an anode in the thermostat housing, but my Kubota may be different than yours.
 
Richard19068

Richard19068

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Jun 11, 2004
1,733
Oday 31 Redondo Beach
capta said:
I believe there should be an anode in the thermostat housing, but my Kubota may be different than yours.
Click to expand
I don't think there is one on my M-18 (Kubota Z-600). Had it for almost 20 years, but I'll take another look.
Thanks.
 
Tally Ho

Tally Ho

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Jan 7, 2011
5,446
Oday 322 East Chicago, IN
sailme88 said:
Well there was this thing in 2020 called COVID. You may have heard about it. One of catch phrases was " Essential Workers'... Michigan early on had high transmission rates.. a relocating company was not about to be granted ESSENTIAL status. Prior to the move, inventories were allowed to dwindle. Then COVID.. They had already left NY and now were the new kids on the block in MI.. Sometime in early summer they were allowed to start tooling up. BUT, they were shut down and not allowed to do anything...
Click to expand
My son was buying a new house in Indiana, but the construction company was based across the border in Michigan...in March, Michigan pretty much shut the state down and no businesses could operate unless they were considered essential...and housing construction was not. So even though the house was in Indiana, the company could not finish the house to sell. Took about 2 months to get cleared to finish the place. I live in Indiana, and there was a new subdivision going in behind my house, and they never let off the gas....even in March.

So, that is how “Michigan shut them down”.

Greg
 
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