Water Pump Maintenance

[Hoogah]

Stand by for what could be dumb questions! I have pulled my water pump in order to install a new aluminium 2 blade fan and to install a shaft collar to eliminate the existing and considerable axial play.

On removal of the pump shaft I thought I'd just check the front and rear to see what I've got and figure out how it all goes together (the diagrams on their own don't do it for me - gotta touch it!).

Here come the questions:

1. I don't notice the pump leaking, but the rusty mark on the packing nut indicates a slight dribble. It seems that I have a little bit leaky "leakless" neoprene washer and O-ring setup, and that the O-ring is broken. Replacing these should fix the dribble? Or I could go back to the original packing arrangement. Opinions? (It's probably a no-brainer ).

2. Looking inside the rear bushing, there is a hole opposite the grease nipple side. Shouldn't this align with the grease nipple to provide a path for the grease into the bushing? And shouldn't it have been almost impossible to pump grease through this nipple? (It wasn't!) Will I have to press it out and re-install? What gear do I need to do this? (I'll bet I don't have it! )

3. Looking inside the front of the pump after removing the bearing, the same thing seems to be happening with the bearing sleeve. There's no way for the grease to get to the bearing unless I remove the sleeve and re-align it. Correct? Is the same gear used to remove this sleeve as the rear bushing?

4. Assuming that I reassemble the pump with the leakless seal setup at the rear, how tight do I do up the packing nut, considering that it now performs its job in a different way to when it was for compressing the packing?

5. Has anyone used one of these shaft collars to eliminate axial play? Has it worked OK? (I have a cautious distrust of grub screws as a way of "fixing" things to a shaft - not sure if this is well founded or not!)

6. Lastly, what do you think of replacing the water pump studs with the "look-alike" bolts? And how do I remove the studs if I go down that path?

Thanks for your wisdom and experience!!

First Year Apprentice Model A Mechanic