Jeff's 55 Chevy - Engine Cooling Fun

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In December 2002 I had lots of fun with engine cooling.  The old water pump started leaking through the weep hole.  I bought a new pump from AutoZone and you would think it would be a no brainer to get it replaced.  That was not the case.  The car would have huge water temp fluctuations with the new pump. 

In the end I bought a new Stewart Stage 1 water pump, installed a new high flow Robertshaw thermostat, installed a new Derale 17" flex fan, installed a new lower radiator hose, and had the radiator flushed and tested.  The car now cools just fine - a steady 180 degrees.  We will see what happens when I install air conditioning and we get to summer in Florida.

Old and New water pump

New lower radiator hose #1

New lower radiator hose #2

Old clutch fan

The orange pump is the original. The gray pump is a $20 AutoZone model. The original pump started leaking and the car wasn't cooling after I installed the AZ pump.

There was lots of suspicion about the original lower hose so I replaced it with this flex hose.

I didn't like the new lower flex hose so I found a pre-formed Gates hose. I had to remove 1" from one end and 2" from the other to get it to fit nicely.

This is the clutch fan that came with the car. The guys at ChevyTalk suggested I replace it with a new stainless steel flex fan which has been done.

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Old and New water pump

The orange pump is the original. The gray pump is a $20 AutoZone model. The original pump started leaking and the car wasn't cooling after I installed the AZ pump.