VCCA Home Forums TECHNICAL - 1945 AND NEWER 1949-1954 Water Pump

Based on my interpretation of the Master Parts List the same water pump fits all 1941 through 1952 vehicles regardless of engine size. I was pleasantly surprised to see the availability of brand name aftermarket new water pumps for these engines

Am I seeing things correctly?

Sunday we were heading to a car show with my friend’s ”˜49 3100 pickup. About 3 miles from the show the water pump failed. The owner said that there was a clunk noise like a rock hitting the underbody and it immediately started overheating. I was following them and saw the steam coming out the rear of the truck. He was able to pull over quickly and get things shut down before there was any damage.

We do not have it off the engine yet so we do not know exactly what failed. The truck does have a 1951 passenger car engine that was rebuilt about 20 years ago but just now is being driven. We do not know the history of the water pump.

"Am I seeing things correctly?"

Yes
And also used on 1953 and 54 "utility" except on 261 engines.
But what IS a utility?

Edit:
Okay, think I've got it figured out.
"Utilities" are 1-1/2 ton and up.
So... the same water pump (part number 3836083) is used on all engines from 1941 to 52... and (I think) used on dipper oiled 235's without hydraulic lifters in 1953 and 54.

The 1953 and 1954 cars and smalll trucks had the narrow fan belt. Only difference.

Thanks Ole and Gene!

I agree that the change to the narrow belt was for most models in ”˜53.

I will post a follow-up when we determine what failed.

The 1953 ans 1954 pumps also had a D shaped hole on the rear plate that was used for the by-pass feature. Checrolet switched to that pupm for replacement as the hole would have been blocked off by the block castig o earlire engines.

This is an update on our “water pump” failure. It has taken a few days to diagnose it because the weather has been so hot and humid here this week. The owner of the truck works in a factory so he is pretty much done for the day after work.

Yesterday Steve found the real problem. The core plug (what lots of people call frost plugs) in the front of the block just below the water pump blew out. That was the “clunk” noise they heard. All we could see was a lot of water in the area below the water pump.

We are trying to determine why it failed. His is running a 4 pound pressure cap.

As in most cases when core plugs come out just getting to the plug is more work than replacing it. We know that at a minimum the radiator has to come out. Hopefully that will give us enough access to squarely install the new plug.

We are also trying to determine if that should be a dome plug or a cup plug. I have not looked at the block to see if there is a lip or counterbore to hold a dome plug. The 216 engine is from a ”˜51 passenger car.

I had the same thing happen on my 51 216. The shop that bored my block had installed the plug. It was the dome type. When it cooled down at the side of the road I added water and it ran right out on the ground!