L99 LS3 Truck Water pump question

[izzy_Britton]

Ok so i have been doing a LOT of reading and such about the different water pumps available.

I have an 03 suburban engine that will be going in my 86 C-10. one thing that i had sort of planned on was using the suburbans mechanical? fan which is attached to the water pump pulley. if i am able to stuff the engine in the bay in the right spot i will not need to modify the fan shroud for this to work properly, or at the very least not need to modify it much. however the trucks as we all know have a left side upper radiator hose and i personally think it is kind of dumb to install a 4 foot upper radiator hose (ok. this may be a bit of an exaggeration) simply because the dumb inlet is slightly right of center on the engine.

i had planned on using a custom radiator with both inlets positioned on the right side to accommodate this situation, but i am not thrilled at the prospect of paying big bucks for a custom radiator. so the new thought to me is is that maybe i could get away with using the camaro or ls3 vette water pump.

The L99 or LS3 water pumps both feature left hand inlet ports allowing for a slightly shorter upper radiator hose.

So to the question i have been getting at: NEITHER the LS3 or L99 water pumps appear to have provisions for the mechanical fan attachment, and rightfully so. BUT i do see that the pump and housings are of coarse separate parts and i am wondering if i can install the actual PUMP assembly from a truck into a L99 or LS3 housing to allow for the fan to be bolted to the pulley?

does this make sense?

I do realize the difference in pulley spacing and the L99 being on the truck spacing vs. the LS3 being car spacing would require the water pump spacers that are so commonly available.

of coarse the odd bit is that i believe that on my 03 Suburban the fan is held in place with 4 bolts while the newer ones are held in place with a single centrally located nut?

has anybody done this or know specifically what will or will not work? conjecture is great but without parts in hand some questions simply cannot be answered.

thanks in advance.

Izzy

[ls1nova71]

What you're basically wanting to do is press on a truck pulley on a car water pump? It can be done, I've seen it, but it's not as easy as that. You have yo take the pump apart so you can back up the impeller when pressing it or you will destroy the pump. Some of the older pumps the back plate unbolted but the newer ones have a pressed in piece and I'm not sure you can get that out and back in with out doing harm. Other people will tell you to just run electric fans, but personally I like mechanical fans and would just deal with the 4 foot hose!

[compsystems]

I think I understand what you are looking to do but I dont think it will work.

If you use a L99 Water pump the outlet comes straight out toward the radiator near the pump pulley. If you then install a truck pulley and fan you wont be able to install the upper radiator hose as it will hit the fan blade.

I think thats the reason the truck pumps outlet is on top, to get over the fan and shroud.

[izzy_Britton]

Originally Posted by compsystems

I think I understand what you are looking to do but I dont think it will work.

If you use a L99 Water pump the outlet comes straight out toward the radiator near the pump pulley. If you then install a truck pulley and fan you wont be able to install the upper radiator hose as it will hit the fan blade.

I think thats the reason the truck pumps outlet is on top, to get over the fan and shroud.

Something I never even considered. Thank you for pointing that little detail out to me.

Looks like i am back to the custom aluminum radiator option again. I would love to do electric fans but just not ready to tackle that yet.

Izzy

[foamypirate]

Originally Posted by izzy_Britton

I do realize the difference in pulley spacing and the L99 being on the truck spacing vs. the LS3 being car spacing would require the water pump spacers that are so commonly available

I thought the LS3 and L99 shared the same spacing? I only see one water pump part number for all 6.2L Camaros.

EDIT: GM only lists one water pump, same with RockAuto. This leads me to believe that the L99 and LS3 pump are, in fact, the same pump, with truck spacing.

ACDelco 251734 / GM 19207665


I can definitely confirm the mechanical fan would most likely hit the outlet:

[compsystems]

Camaro's that came with an auto trans have DOD and therefore an L99. The water pump on the l99 has the truck spacing to fit the sensor on the cam that's behind the pump.

The Camaro's with a manual trans have LS3, and therefore the short spacing that would require the spacers to work with truck accessories.

Just clarifying for those searching for answers in the future.

[foamypirate]

Originally Posted by compsystems

Camaro's that came with an auto trans have DOD and therefore an L99. The water pump on the l99 has the truck spacing to fit the sensor on the cam that's behind the pump.

The Camaro's with a manual trans have LS3, and therefore the short spacing that would require the spacers to work with truck accessories.

Just clarifying for those searching for answers in the future.

I don't believe that to be correct, based on all the searching I have done. Every parts place, GM or otherwise, lists a single water pump for all 2010-2015 Camaros.

Based on that, the Camaro uses the same water pump for the L99 and the LS3. The Corvette uses the shorter car spacing LS3 pump.

[MalibuSSwagon]

I'm fairly certain all 5th gen Camaros have the same spacing.

Anyways, another point is what if you custom built water pump craps out on you on a roadtrip. K.I.S.S. Use the the truck pump and hose with the stock radiator, it works great. Or use electric fans. They also work great.

[foamypirate]

Originally Posted by MalibuSSwagon

I'm fairly certain all 5th gen Camaros have the same spacing.

Anyways, another point is what if you custom built water pump craps out on you on a roadtrip. K.I.S.S. Use the the truck pump and hose with the stock radiator, it works great. Or use electric fans. They also work great.

I would agree (and edited my post to reflect the research I've done).

[dayj1]

Originally Posted by foamypirate

the Camaro uses the same water pump for the L99 and the LS3. The Corvette uses the shorter car spacing LS3 pump.

The 2012 up ZL1 Camaros use water pump part number 19180610. The belt spacing is the same as the Corvette LS3.

http://www.tonkinonlineparts.com/p/C.../19180610.html

[foamypirate]

Originally Posted by dayj1

The 2012 up ZL1 Camaros use water pump part number 19180610. The belt spacing is the same as the Corvette LS3.

http://www.tonkinonlineparts.com/p/C.../19180610.html

Good find.

So break down is:

LS3 Camaro, L99 Camaro = Truck Spacing
LSA Camaro = Car Spacing