New Water Pump, Fan & Accu-Link Belt, Kama 554

[3RRL]

LOL ... wouldn't you know it, after working the Kama 554 for 14 hours on my pond project, the bearing in the water pump went out. This is right after I completed the engine overhaul, so it's a good thing I'm pretty good natured. My other thought was to take my 378 Weatherby Magnum with armor piercing 300 grain bullets and shoot holes in it. Anyway, the fan started to wobble around and eventually hit the shroud. Of course it sent shrapnel flying all over the pond, and nearly made me wet my pants!
Oh well, no big deal, right?

I drove the tractor back to the barn to once again, dis-assemble the battery, and radiator so I could get at the fan and water pump. I figured I could dis-assemble the water pump and replace the bearing ... WRONG. The pulley was pressed on so tight that I broke it getting it off. OH man!! So I figured I'd get a new one and continued to dis-assemble the pump to at least replace the bearing assembly. Well, I immediately broke the impeller too! What a week I had today!
Here is what I ended up with.



Again, no big deal, right?
I had called Chip at Artrac to order a new fan earlier in the week and it was on the way. But now I needed a new water pump and pulley too. When I called, Chip was on vacation and Jason was not sure if the pump they had in stock would fit or not. I had to wait until Chip got back from vacation Friday morning. When I talked to him, he said the new pump he had would fit, except the pulley was a larger diameter than the one on mine, so my (new) fan belt would likely not fit. I asked him to overnite the pump to my local UPS center where I could pick it up since UPS did not make Saturday deliveries to my town. Chip and his team got the special instructions so I could get the pump at UPS and I got the pump Saturday morning after all and put the it on.

While I was at it, I also changed the 90 degree elbow hose, put on the new Accu-Link fan (thanks to Bob Rooks for the tip) and also a new fan belt. For you Kama 554 owners, the stock water pump is a pressed on pulley and the new one has a bolt on the end, but it fits perfectly. You just need to remove the Fan spacer from the old pump and reuse it. Also, the stock fan belt is a Napa #5L450, but it won't fit the new pulley...it's too small. The Napa elbow that fits the pump is a #7620, but needs to be cut to fit.
Here are the components.

[3RRL]

I got the elbow hose cut so it fit.
That's the one coming from the thermostat housing to the water pump. The new pump also has a grease-able Zerk fitting on top, but it pointed straight up to the thermostat housing, so I installed a 45 degree fitting. I'll be sure to grease the new one. The old pump had a "grease chalice", but I never knew where it was. Turns out it's underneath (when mounted) and the front gear cover and housing cover blocks you from getting to it. But you might try to get to that chalice to add some grease before your pump bearing goes bad.

[3RRL]

The next step was to fit that new Accu-Link fan belt.
It is quite a great invention. You can install it without taking anything off, add or remove links while on the engine. In my case, I already had access to the pulleys, so all I had to do was remove the excess links and re-fasten them to the correct length. I did it twice, once to remove all the slack out while tensioning the alternator, and then removed another link once it stretched a little. Like all belts, I'll need to adjust it again after a couple hours of running. Again, I give Bob Rooks credit for making the suggestion to use one in some of his posts.
Here are some photos of fitting and adjusting until complete.

[3RRL]

Finally, I put the new radiator fan back on.
Re-assembled the radiator, battery and air cleaner assemblies and was good to go. By the way, while I was waiting for the water pump to get to me, I removed the valve cover, the entire valve train, fuel lines and injectors so I could re-torque the head bolts. Then, of course, I had to re-set the valve lash again. But it was a good time to do it and all the head bolts ended up torquing up a bit more. So it was a good thing I did that after all.
Here are some photos of the engine put back together (again), with the new water pump, elbow hose, new fan and Accu-Link fan belt (and spare links). Also a shot of my beautiful Kama 554 with the FEL off.
Man, I love this tractor!
Rob-

[3RRL]

I forgot to mention that I had to braze up a small hole in the radiator.
I guess the fan blades cut through it near the very top, so I was lucky that was the only damage to it. It was pretty easy to do and easy to get to.
Oh, one last thing ... I guess my most improved skill would be my impeccable photo taking ... lol.
Rob-

[Rich Waugh]

Another good job, Rob!

I have come to love those Accu-Link belts. I bought one from Habba Flate on a flyer when they were on sale a while back and put it on my table saw a couple weeks ago. What a difference! With a regular belt the saw always had an unpleasant vibration that I attributed to a possibly bent main shaft since the bearing seemed tight and sound. Put the Accu-Link belt on and man, that saw just hums. I can literally stand a nickel on edge on the table while it's running. Habba Flate had the belts on sale again the other day and I ordered a couple more just to have on hand. Except for slack-belt driven stuff, I probably won't use anything else from now on. They're that good.

Rich

[roy697]

[The old pump had a "grease chalice"]

Would you explain what that thing is? When putting some parts back on my tractor I looked for a grease fitting on mine & found this.

When I went to grease it I could not keep the grease gun fitting on it, so I changed it to a regular grease fitting. I was warned about putting to much grease in the water pump fitting. Is this the same thing you had on your pump? This one is about 1/4" long.

[PJ]

Feb 11, 2010 0:26:16 GMT -5 roy697 said:

[The old pump had a "grease chalice"]

Would you explain what that thing is? When putting some parts back on my tractor I looked for a grease fitting on mine & found this.

When I went to grease it I could not keep the grease gun fitting on it, so I changed it to a regular grease fitting. I was warned about putting to much grease in the water pump fitting. Is this the same thing you had on your pump? This one is about 1/4" long.

Roy, That type of fitting takes a special grease gun head with a rubber seat and it is designed exactly for what your talking about, not allowing too much grease pressure in the bearings which could blow out the seals. Too many people think it's just some foreign design and doesn't apply to our equipment. I would buy a gun head for it. Use extreme caution using a conventional Zerk fitting where the fitting will hold any amount of pressure, possibly blowing out a seal. The special fitting that came on the pump will not allow the pressure to build up too much, as it will seep out the side of the guns head. That's what that fitting is for. PJ

[roy697]

I got into the books & there is a reference to oil, not sure what they have in mind, but what your saying makes scene. I will check for a head for my gun & see about replacing the new zerk with the old brass fitting.

(how do you copy some one else post & put it into yours, like the one above?)

[3RRL]

Roy, not being sure about your water pump, I'd take PJ's advice.
On my new pump, there is a grease overflow hole, right next to the Zerk fitting. That hole prevents any excess pressure from building up when greasing the new pump. I filled it up and grease came out that overflow hole. I presume it is the indicator that the chalice is full.
Rob-

[roy697]

With my stuff put together I have not seen any holes, there may be but don't intend to take it apart to look. I will be careful when greasing.

[bradblazer]

Hey Rob,
Thanks for this thread! Unfortunately my pump started dribbling coolant yesterday. Hopefully I'll have better luck getting the pump apart so I can just change out the bearing and seal. My bearing is not wobbly yet. Mine does have the grease zerk on top.

Brad

[mrmikey]

On my new pump, there is a grease overflow hole, right next to the Zerk fitting. That hole prevents any excess pressure from building up when greasing the new pump. I filled it up and grease came out that overflow hole.

I thought I had read somewhere where the pump had to be aligned in a certain direction when greasing using that fitting. I can't for the life of me find that post nor figure out how you'd align a water pump a certain way. Then again I could be losing it . I do remember tho whoever posted said they didn't realize you could blow out the seal.....Mike

[roy697]

Would the idea of having a hole in the pulley that would line up, an allow you to put a grease gun on it? Mine was in a hard to reach place but you can see it down in their.

[Rich Waugh]

I don't think that would work out too well, Roy. That pulley is pretty well stressed with belt tension and the whole pulley and impeller assembly is designed to be as close as possible to balanced to reduce wear and tear on the bearings. Putting a hole in the pulley that was big enough to pass a grease gun tip would change the balance so you'd have to counteract that by making another hole opposite it or adding the removed weight back to the pulley. In any case I doubt it is worth the trouble - easier to just get a special tip for the grease gun that will reach the zerk. They sell different angled tips, extended tips, etc.

Rich