Water Pump Grease

[Guest DBAcadia]

Hi all. Along with the water pump shaft packing nuts which are fun enough to pack, there are sometimes one or two grease fittings on the sides of the

pump itself. Every autoparts store clerk looks at me funny when I ask for

waterpump grease, unlike regular grease which I presume will find its way

to the radiator and cause problems. Am I asking them the wrong question,

and just what product should I be looking for for the pump itself?

[RickBrinker]

Here is where I get my grease Product Search | Snyders Antique Auto

[Rusty_OToole]

You can also use waterproof marine grease for outboard motors. Be very sparing in its use, half a pump on the grease gun once or twice a year.

[Guest DBAcadia]

Thanks much, no more funny looks...for this reason anyhow.

[Phil 32DL6]

Funny story...Back around 1971 (pre-Internet), I was in a Western Auto store one day picking up something or other when I spotted a lone can of water pump grease on the shelf. Even back then it had been impossible to find for my 32 Dodge. So I plunked it down on the counter where the clerk (barely of shaving age) looked at it and asked, "What's THAT for?" "To grease my water pump?" I replied semi-sarcastically. "Oh, you don't grease a water pump," says he with authority, "you just throw them out and get a new one!"

See? I still have that can...it doesn't take much at a time to fill up those little grease cups!

[Guest 1930]

Phil do you have grease cups on your water pump? Good story

[Phil 32DL6]

Phil do you have grease cups on your water pump? Good story

Yep! Well, it's a little more complicated. My original early-32 Dodge...the one I got in the mid-60s...had one of those little turn-down cups on the water pump. When I bought the second one...a later-32...it had a grease fitting. Since I didn't have a grease gun with a proper nozzle, I simply swapped the fitting and cup.

[1936 D2]

You can also use waterproof marine grease for outboard motors. Be very sparing in its use, half a pump on the grease gun once or twice a year.

OK. Here's that almighty question again...

What makes "Water Pump Grease" special?

- Once I heard that it is waterproof and repels water, therefore will not enter the water within the pump itself. (Then - where does it go? Why would you need to periodically pump some in?) If "waterproof", it will clump together once it is in the water flow and eventually clog up the smaller passages and the radiator.

- Another time I heard it is NOT waterproof. That it is a special "water soluble" grease. That way it will not clump once it is in the water stream (which is where it ultimately ends up going), and gets rinsed out of that system when the antifreeze is periodically changed.

Either way, dealing with grease in this water system sounds like a pain.

I wonder how either reacts with some of the newer antifreeze solutions??? :confused:

Hey Phil: Can you put some of that "Water Pump" grease you have there in some hot water and stir it up good, then let it sit? Tell us if it stays suspended or settles out?

Then put some in some hot antifreeze mix and watch for the same? I think this could be very interesting since it is marked "Water Pump Grease" and is a product from the right period!

Edited March 10, 2011 by 1936 D2
Additional question (see edit history)