Well, I decided to fire up the replacement engine today with the hope of running an oil cleaner solution through the engine and then doing an oil change. The oil that is in the engine is oil that I put in after getting the engine from the junkyard. It's been in there a while and needs to be changed. Additionally, I'm sure it has collected all of the sludge that was normal back in the day before detergent oils. Since this is a new oil and likely has detergent (I really can't remember if it does or does not, so I'm assuming that it does) it will cause the sludge to go back into suspension where it could cause damage to the engine. So, I figured a good cleaner, followed by an oil change would be a good thing to do on a Saturday morning.
I got the engine out from where I store it in the garage and notice a wet looking spot on the floor. It was not something that I had ever seen before, so it was worrisome, but I preceded on with prepping the engine for a run.
Since the engine had been sitting for a couple of months since it's last run, I knew it would take a few tries to get it to fire. Sure enough, it took several tries to get gasoline to the carb and for the intake manifold to have enough fuel vapor in it to fire the engine. But we got there. As soon as we did, I heard the squeal.... You know the one, where you hope it is the belt and not the bearings of your water pump, but deep down inside you know it's the water pump. Sure enough, I looked around at the pump and found this:
And this:
Party over. I guess it's not surprising, given the age of the engine and the water pump. I knew I was going to need a replacement to change to the short shaft variety, but figured I had time before doing that. So, time to save up some money and get the right water pump.
That's all for now.
