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Thread: Electric water pump

  1. #1
    Moonlight Performance
    Hindsight's Avatar
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    Electric water pump

    I've been thinking about whether or not adding an inline electric water pump into the coolant pipes post-radiator would be a good idea. Some folks have theorized that the cooling issues a lot of people experience has to do with all the additional tubing and bends in the 818 cooling setup, and the factory Subaru water pump being under-sized for all that extra drag.

    I haven't ever used an inline electric water pump so don't know much about them.... how much restriction they create when not running - would they need to be on all the time - if so, would it be hard on the pump for it to be running at all times even when the thermostat is closed, etc. What kind of lifespan do they have. etc.

    Again, this would be to supplement the factory mechanical water pump.

    Anyone given any thought into this or tried something out?

  2. #2
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    What's your reasoning for the need?

  3. #3
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    I built a midengined car off a 65 chassis using Northstar
    drivetrain with long tubes to front radiator. Big problem was
    getting all the air out. When that was done, there was never
    a cooling problem but the reverse cause
    all the extra tubing helped cool the water.

  4. #4
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    I have been wondering this also since I have never seen over heating issues on my car but I'm also not done with my build and have only driven 10 miles lol. But I have let it idle for long times and never seen over heating problems.

    To me it seems like the OEM pump will flow enough fluid as long as it's moving fluid in and out the rest is up to the radiator so solve?

    MR2s run the same coolent system style as the 818 and they use the same water pumps as the Camry for the NA motors and Celica for the turbo motors. They have never had over heat issues unless air was trapped. I will say with how long the pipes are much like the mr2s air is easy to trap and over heating is easy to happen. Honestly the 818s should have a much better cooling system then a WRX since we have way more coolant capacity and a radiator that is far away from any heat source. OEM fans are important to keep I know that much!

  5. #5
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    Quote Originally Posted by Mitch Wright View Post
    What's your reasoning for the need?
    Overheating. I have other things I need to do first, like add ducting to the front radiator
    But I have wondered about how extra flow could help.
    I have bad overheating issues on the track. I'm not sure if ducting alone will solve them.

  6. #6
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    I have an Airlift tool https://www.nationaltoolwarehouse.co...nt=AllProducts I have used this on a number of cars that have issues burping the air from the cooling system. I have seen a few different tools, this is the only one I have experience with.
    I don't see more than 190* on a HOT day with a stock Subie Radiator on track. Not saying an additional pump is wrong, I personally like to keep things simple.

  7. #7
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    I had big over heating issues on the track. Even cost me my first motor. My new motor has the higher flowing of the two Subaru pumps and that didn’t help any. I even opened the thermostat up so the was no stopping of flow until the water was up to temp and still had issues. With my car making good power the only fix was a bigger radiator. I went with a stock car double pass bigger radiator and have had no issues ever since. I have had to tape up the lower section in the nose on cold days to get the motor up to temp. I personally think flow isn’t the issue it is capacity and surface area of the stock radiator when pushed hard that causes the issue.
    Six star has an electric pump on his car and has seen no heating issues. His setup is a stand alone unit that removes the stock pump altogether. He might be the best one to give answers on the electric pump question.

  8. #8
    Senior Member C.Plavan's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Mitch Wright View Post
    I have an Airlift tool https://www.nationaltoolwarehouse.co...nt=AllProducts I have used this on a number of cars that have issues burping the air from the cooling system. I have seen a few different tools, this is the only one I have experience with.
    I don't see more than 190* on a HOT day with a stock Subie Radiator on track. Not saying an additional pump is wrong, I personally like to keep things simple.
    A must have for the 818.
    Thanks- Chad
    818R-SOLD!!!- Go Karted 7/20/14/ Officially raced NASA ST2- 2/28/15
    2016 Elan NP01 Prototype Racecar Chassis #20
    1969 Porsche 911ST Vintage Race Car
    1972 Porsche 911T (#'s matching undergoing nut & bolt resto in my garage)

  9. #9
    Senior Member EODTech87's Avatar
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    My car is still a work in progress so it doesn't provide a lot of verified data but I decided on the electric water pump system(stock coolant pump deleted) on SixStar's recommendation. I also wanted to simplify the whole system so I deleted all the extra coolant lines on the engine including all the ones that attach to the water pump housing. This allows the coolant to flow into the motor through the stock water pump location and out the crossover tube on top of the motor. I did add a radiator cap after the crossover tube outlet so that I could bleed the coolant system as the expansion tank was deleted. So far everything seems ok but I won't really know until I start the engine up again which will hopefully be in the next week or 2.
    -Jason

  10. #10
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    I too have had many cooling issues, have had to cancel my dyno day because of overheating on the dyno. When I did have it running I would watch the temperature rise at red lights because the idle wasn't enough to move the coolant. Turns out I also blew a head gasket because of the overheating as well. I decided to pull the motor and put a davies Craig electric water and remove the mechanical pump. Best decision I have ever made, not only was burping the system painless because you have a pump running separately of the motor but it moves the coolant at a much higher rate. I installed mine right before the thermostat utilizing the 90 degree design to make the corner from the side sails directed to the motor. I would recommend the EWP 150, not the 125 that rallysport direct sells. Also, just a heads up to potentially solve any headaches, I had an undersized alternator for running both the Electric water pump and the AWIC pump and a stereo at the same time, so if you have that setup I would recommend the >100amp system not the 65amp.

    Hope this helps, and any other questions feel free to ask.
    Ian

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