M25XP Failed Fresh Water Pump

[Kyle Ewing]

Yesterday while delivering Donnybrook (1990, M25XP) to the harbor the fresh water pump failed.  Symptoms were a periodic grinding sound and antifreeze dripping from the pump.  The pulley wobbled side to side and I found a number of bearings in the engine compartment.  Thankfully it didn't freeze up completely and engine temp didn't rise.

It looks like I need the pump, bypass nipple, and a gasket and I'll be looking at Tractor Smart for the Kubota equivalents.

Has anyone else changed the pump and is there anything I should be concerned about (i.e. chance of antifreeze in the oil)?  I haven't found reference to this problem on this page and other sites have said this pump failure is rare.

[Ken Juul]

The coolant system has no connection with the lube system.  If you blow a head gasket is the only instance.  Should be a straight forward change.  Rusted bolts may be the only problem, make sure you clean the block gasket surface well before you reinstall.  Also don't forget to bleed the system well, including burping the water heater loop to get all the air out of the system before you restart the engine.  Mechanical failures do happen, however failure of the coolant pump can be caused by having the fan belt tension too tight.

[Stu Jackson]

Fresh water pump failure:  http://c34.org/bbs/index.php/topic,5512.0.html

Burping Your Engine:  http://c34.org/bbs/index.php/topic,4518.0.html

Kubota sources in addition to TractorSmart:  reply #6:  http://c34.org/bbs/index.php/topic,4518.0.html  You may, just may, have a Kubota dealer closer to you than TractorSmart and can go pick it up, maybe saving S/H charges.

[prh77]

I changed the pump this spring and it was no big deal. You have to drain most of the antifreeze, and if it is more than 3 years old,put in new. Read the posts on priming the hot water heater loop and burping the engine as it can be a pain. The pump was about $ 100 from tractorsmart and came with the nipple that some owners were missing when they changed out this pump. One last thought, do not set the belt tension too tight, as this wears out the alternator and waterpump bearings prematurely.

[MarkT]

I had the same experience last year.

Bought a new pump from these folks.  http://www.edi-dist.com/

http://c34.org/bbs/index.php/topic,4868.msg29635.html#msg29635

Regards
Mark Tamblyn

[Ron Hill]

Kyle : There have been numerous article and post written on changing the internal coolant pump.  As Ken mentioned there is no interface between the oil lubrication and the fresh water pump.

The easyest way to check is to remove the belt and spin the water pump pulley.  It should spin freely and hear NO grinding/rubbing !! 
 
However, I wrote an article many years ago that mentioned the adding of "Water Pump Lubricant" to the coolant mixture between "Prestone" changes -- just to lub that fresh water pump!!   A thought

[Kyle Ewing]

Thanks all for your help.  My local dealer didn't have the parts in stock so I ordered from Tractor Smart.  It sounds like I don't have anything to worry about with the install.  I plan to use this to replace some of the original engine hoses.

Kyle

[prh77]

This is a perfect time to change all the hoses including the ones to the hot water heater

[Susan Ray]

Hi Ron..Where do you get the 'water pump lubricant' and what is the brand name? Mahalo

[Ron Hill]

Susan : You can get water pump lubricant at any auto parts store.  Just remove some of the coolant mix and add it.