Washer pump

[Cyril]

I bought a new washer pump and when connected it made a noise for a while then stopped.
A friend checked it and said it had blown (iron fillings coming out of it)
So a bought a new LUCAS one from the bay and the same thing happened.
Can anyone advise?
Thanks
Mark

[StillGotMy1stCar]

Running dry, they need water as a lubricant. They are also polarity sensitive so would protest to being run backwards. Don’t know about iron filings, the impellers used to be a rubber type material unless the newer ones design has changed. A non-return valve should also be used.
Regards John

[SteveClem]

Some new parts are completely rubbish. Sadly the 'Lucas ' mark is no longer a byword for quality.
Hopefully someone on here will have a recommendation for you.

[ManyMinors]

Why do you feel the need for an electric motor? My screenwashers have always worked perfectly well with the simple original pump
It isn't necessary to over-complicate things.

[palacebear]

Agree with Manyminors. Mine's got a manual after-market screen wash pump. Must be 55 years old and still works fine.

[Cyril]

Yes I agree about manual pumps its just that mine always had an electric one and was simply replacing it.
To be honest I didn't realise manual pumps existed for the Moggy!
I do now
Thanks
Mark

[palacebear]

The Moggie got a manual screen washer in 1963 as standard. Same type used until production ended. Most non-luxury British cars had to make do with manual washer pumps until the early 1970s

[StillGotMy1stCar]

Just looked on the ESM website and noticed they do a kit with a push switch, if yours matches that it indicates the hole may have been drilled out too 20mm, I think the manual pump is 14.5mm.
If it has a flick switch then the hole won’t have been enlarged.
I also noticed that the supplied kits don’t appear to include a non-return valve, the pump vanes may serve this purpose but I would add one, preferably a foot one then suck the water up to fill the pipe before fitting to the pump. Also the plumbing In/Out has to be correct, sorry just stating the obvious there.
Modern cars have the pump mounted at the base of the water container to help prevent the pump running dry.
Would be interesting to hear if others have had problems with these Lucas pumps.
The original manual pumps are fine, I wonder what the new ones are like.
I think I will keep mine manual, it’s all part of the charm.
Regards John

[Cyril]

I could say something unsound but I wont!!!

[StillGotMy1stCar]

Thanks Cyril, it was getting late must have had other things on my mind.

[Blaketon]

My Traveller came with an electric washer. The pump is mounted on the inner wing, above the bottle. Aside from swapping the switch to a neat push type "Jag" switch, I've done nothing to it and it works well.

My MG Midget had a manual unit and when that broke, I fitted an electric pump, that my father happened to have spare. It's never been the best (I have to remember to clean the polish out of the jets), though it rarely goes out in the rain or on motorways, where you might get lots of squashed insects on the screen. I recently fitted a new motor, as the old one didn't seem to be working and it's still not brilliant. Does anyone know whether these motors have to be mounted vertically? Mine is mounted flat, on top of the footwell (Above the coil in the attached). On all the other cars, the pumps are vertical and I wondered whether this makes a difference? It would easy enough to modify the mounting but before doing so, I thought I would ask.