Lehman 2715E water pump

"my surveyor says i have the &

"my surveyor says i have the "old" style water pump drive shaft. She recommends I replace it with a "compact water pump" that doesn’t use a drive shaft. Q: Is that good advice, and where can I get such a thing?"

"The Lehmans originally came w

"The Lehmans originally came with what you see on your engine. There is a weak spot in the system which is the screwdriver like connection between the driven gear that goes into the engine and the pump part which is aft and has the hoses connected to it. The "screwdriver" side will eventually break off and stop driving the pump. This leads to almost instant overheating due to loss of seawater coolant to the heat exchanger. Lehmans are very sensitive to overheating which is an expensive complication.

There is a replacement pump available which does away with the old style connection and problem. The new style comes in two sizes the 3/4" or the 1". The 3/4" moves as much water as the original pump did. The 1" moves more, which results in some extra cooling capacity, possibly good for your transmission and/or oil coolers.

Replacement parts for the old style drive system are getting hard to come by, old stock is all that is available IF you can find it. Bob Smith at American Diesel is often listed as a good source. He was VP of Lehman's marinization project when the engines were first converted for marine use. (American Diesel Corp
PO Box 1838 (Rt. #3 North)
Kilmarnock, Va. 22482
Phone: 804.435.3107 Fax: 804.435.6420 )Other distributors are certainly able to provide the same parts.

I would recommend that you either carry the new style pump as a spare for when yours goes bad, or better yet, buy and install the new pump and keep the old one and its associated pieces as your spare. By installing the new pump you insure that it fits, works, and that you have all the right hoses and fittings. The old one onboard as a spare insures you against some unforseen occurance like sucking a bunch of sand into the pump which scores the backing plate too much to pump water.

I think your surveyors advice is sound.

K"