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.

 

[milkman]

Rob, you know all this is your own fault, your other threads w/pics have got us all praying that something will break so we can see more pics of your work.

 

[3RRL]

Rob, you know all this is your own fault, your other threads w/pics have got us all praying that something will break so we can see more pics of your work.

I know ... I know !!! So here you go.
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-

 

[Smalljobs]

I agree. Lately I've been having a severe case of 3RRL deprivation.

 

[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, I guess my most improved skill (according to you guys) would be my impeccable photo taking ... lol.

 

[SPIKER]

Man Ithink I would have been right there with that 300 mag as well after the 2 times pulling the engine appart then this happens what next??? lol. Seems I thought I was th eonly one with that kind of luck, (singing in my best HEE HAW song voice) "If it twernt fer my bad luck I'd have no luck at-tawll"


Mark

 

[Captinjack]

Sorry to hear about your recent troubles.

You refer to a grease "chalise" to lubricate the water pump bearing. I read the manual and it said to use white grease on the water pump, but not seeing any place to put this grease, I wrote it off to another inaccuracy of the manual which it is full of.

Could you take a picture of the old broken pump and show where this chalise? is. My 554 only has about 300 hrs on the clock and I know I'll run into the same thing sooner or later.

My poor tractor is sitting outside under 30 inches of snow right now and another 15 is forcast to start in another couple of hours. I wanted to get to deer camp this weekend, but it doesn't look good for this trip.

Your Kama sure looks good Rob. Should you decide you can't "take it anymore" give me a shout and I'd entertain giving her a good home. I still haven't removed the cover on the hi/lo range shifter yet, but will as soon as the weather warms and the snow melts.

 

[Bob Rooks]

Thanks for the kind words Rob. Be assured that that is the last belt you will ever buy for that tractor. It has been proven that cold OEM V-belts will take a "set", and this has been attributable to knocking out pump, alternator, and compressor bearings in time.