Flowkooler or Edelbrock water pump?

[Some Car Guy]

I used to buy the edelbrock pumps years ago, pre private equity involvement. They worked super well. At least 15 years ago and further on back. I had them on two different cars.

I’ve been intrigued by the Flowkooler design and was going to try one this time. Being 100 bucks cheaper was another reason to see it in action. The edelbrock is on sale now at summit and it’s down to 80 bucks spread.

The edelbrock still says made in USA. From what I’ve read, the Flowkooler is a Chinese gmb pump with an American made impeller. Or it could be American designed is all. I suppose for me it comes down to whether the edelbrocks are still a quality piece.

 

[lewtot184]

I've had problems with the edelbrock impeller design (440 source is the same) increasing temps. I've found that the 6 large impeller design with an anti- cavitation plate to work about as good as anything and the edelbrock design the worse.

 

[RJRENTON]

I used to buy the edelbrock pumps years ago, pre private equity involvement. They worked super well. At least 15 years ago and further on back. I’ve been intrigued by the Flowkooler design and was going to try one this time. Being 100 bucks cheaper was another reason to see it in action. The edelbrock is on sale now at summit and it’s down to 80 bucks spread.

The edelbrock still says made in USA. From what I’ve read, the Flowkooler is a Chinese gmb pump with an American made impeller. Or it could be American designed is all. I suppose for me it comes down to whether the edelbrocks are still a quality piece.

Cost is NOT the important factor.....you need to compare the respective pump's Hydraulic factors.....GPM (Gallons per Minute) and the pressure (P) delivered at the best efficiency point at a designed RPM (of the pump not the engine). These factors will determine the best fluid velocity for the application. Remember, velocity in terms of ft/sec of flow, the higher the better, determines how many Btu per gallon of coolant will be circulated and the better the engine will be cooled. The other factor is the size of the radiator. The more surface area the radiator presents to the cooling air stream, combined with the more coolant moving thru the radiator, the better the heat exchanged.....this is my opinion of course.......
BOB RENTON

 

[RemCharger]

A complete pump assembly in a big block Dodge consists of 2 pieces. So there is no way the pump manufacturer can honestly provide proper pumping specs.
Where can one buy a waterpump flow rate tester. And would it be reasonable for the average Joe to procure one?

 

[Some Car Guy]

I've had problems with the edelbrock impeller design (440 source is the same) increasing temps. I've found that the 6 large impeller design with an anti- cavitation plate to work about as good as anything and the edelbrock design the worse.

View attachment 1772401

Interesting, do you happen to remember which design stat you ran with it? Mine held right to whatever temp I put in, per the mechanical gauge.

 

[RJRENTON]

A complete pump assembly in a big block Dodge consists of 2 pieces. So there is no way the pump manufacturer can honestly provide proper pumping specs.
Where can one buy a waterpump flow rate tester. And would it be reasonable for the average Joe to procure one?

The "manufacturer" designed to some specified conditions.....what are these specifics? BTW....a pump has several components....housing, shaft, bearing, mechanical seal assembly, and impeller.....these factors apply to most, if not all pumps. Goggle GOULDS PUMP MANUAL for a complete information on how centrifugal pumps are designed, types, etc, and show pump curves for the different designs and sizes, to get an idea of how pumps work and how they are sized by application. Operating speed is an important factor in the pump's delivery curve.......if you don't know, ask the supplier for a pump curve drawing for a specific operating speed.....and its not the impeller design.......
BOB TEST

 

[Some Car Guy]

Cost is NOT the important factor.....you need to compare the respective pump's Hydraulic factors.....GPM (Gallons per Minute) and the pressure (P) delivered at the best efficiency point at a designed RPM (of the pump not the engine). These factors will determine the best fluid velocity for the application. Remember, velocity in terms of ft/sec of flow, the higher the better, determines how many Btu per gallon of coolant will be circulated and the better the engine will be cooled. The other factor is the size of the radiator. The more surface area the radiator presents to the cooling air stream, combined with the more coolant moving thru the radiator, the better the heat exchanged.....this is my opinion of course.......
BOB RENTON

I don’t have flow numbers, but I do know I had the cap off and the eddy was moving way more coolant than I’ve seen a factory one send through.

I wasn’t talking about the cost versus quality, just saying it wasn’t a big deal if these things were still good. I’ve lost count of the times a buy out resulted in good things going to **** to increase ROI.

The Flowkooler is very interesting as it’s so different. The china thing just bothers me since I do have a choice available here.

 

[68 Sport Satellite]

I've had good results with the Milodon 6 blade pump with anti-cavitation plate. For fun I also tried a Flowkooler pump and it's in the car now. Both work well to cool my big block at speed and for short duration (less than 5 min) idle in traffic, but the Flowkooler pump reduced my long duration (15 min+) idling in traffic temps by 10 degrees, which I've experienced during bad traffic jams on the interstate.

 

[lewtot184]

Interesting, do you happen to remember which design stat you ran with it? Mine held right to whatever temp I put in, per the mechanical gauge.

I used the 440 source which is an edelbrock clone. Temps were 10-15 degrees higher than a 6 blade anti- cavatation pump. I found no difference between flow cooler and the 6 blade pump. Of course there may be variables between engines/ radiator, etc. There is a conventional 8 blade pump with the anti- cabatation disc out there. I bought one a few weeks ago but haven't tried it.

 

[diesel_lv]

I live where my summers are 125°+. I run a Flowkooler in a 496" stroker w a/c. Obviously water pump is only part of the equation, but it flows very well and when I had a 160° t-stat, it flowed enough at low rpm to keep engine below 180° w a/c going. 4yrs with it now and no leaks or issues. I have 3.73 gears n GV and frequently cruise interstate which is 75mph so I'm cruising 80 at 3,200 rpm for distance and get no cavitation either.

 

[qkcuda]

I bought the Mancini high flow pump and aluminum housing at Carlisle. It has the anti cavitation plate as well. it will be installed on the new 400.

 

[Bird 426]

I do not have the Flowkooler water pump on my Hemi, maybe in the future. I haven't driven it yet. Have one on my small block, it's a good pump. Do not know if the impeller is the same for a big block.

 

[Sixpactogo]

Car manufacturers design components that work for the cars and trucks they build. Then along comes the shade tree mechanic (us) thinking we need to fix what is already working. I have to include me as I had to go through the learning curve myself. I decided my 440 would look so much better with a serpentine belt system while never considering my efforts were going to cause the problems they did. My engine compartment looked great but when the temps started to get out of control, I blamed it on the radiator. I spent $600.00 replacing that with no improvement. I then swapped in a couple different heat temp thermostats before buying a FlowKooler pump. When all was said and done, I had spent over a grand fixing things that Mopar fixed before my car came off the assembly line. I suspect a lot of others out there have done the same since there are tons of threads on this very topic . It turns out the serpentine system was causing all of my heat issues because of the underdrive pulleys that were designed to cut down on horsepower losses. What was happening was my pulleys were causing the coolant to spend too much time in the engine and not being properly cooled in the radiator. Once I realized the components all have to work together to get the job done efficiently I went back to the stock pulleys. My point is, most of our problems are self induced because of the desire to make it better.
This thread is no different. Everyone concerned about how many blades are on the impeller or which thermostat is best while not considering that the pulley system has more control over the flow rate than either. If we could all stick closer to the original design things could be much easier to deal with. We love to complain about how the designers screwed the pooch on this that and everything but maybe they weren't as dumb as we thought.

 

[lewtot184]

Flow cooler top, tough stuff 8 blade below.

 

[RemCharger]

The "manufacturer" designed to some specified conditions.....what are these specifics? BTW....a pump has several components....housing, shaft, bearing, mechanical seal assembly, and impeller.....these factors apply to most, if not all pumps. Goggle GOULDS PUMP MANUAL for a complete information on how centrifugal pumps are designed, types, etc, and show pump curves for the different designs and sizes, to get an idea of how pumps work and how they are sized by application. Operating speed is an important factor in the pump's delivery curve.......if you don't know, ask the supplier for a pump curve drawing for a specific operating speed.....and its not the impeller design.......
BOB TEST

The pump does nothing , by itself. You would have to test it with the exact pump housing that it will be installed on. This is called ignoring the elephant in the room.

 

[hunt2elk]

I have switched my cars over to FlowKooler pumps within the last couple of years. No complaints at all, and believe they dropped the operating temps by about 5 degrees.

 

[twecomm]

Bought a Flowkooler pump for my 383. Made big difference over the factory type pump. In my case, the Flowkooler pump is installed in a stock 383 pump housing. Worked well for me and continues so some 5 years later.

 

[RJRENTON]

I have switched my cars over to FlowKooler pumps within the last couple of years. No complaints at all, and believe they dropped the operating temps by about 5 degrees.

Do you know how many Btu's of heat is in the "about 5°F degrees" you noted? The type of coolant is being used? What is the temperature of the coolant entering the engine and existing the engine? That determines the amount of heat the coolant absorbed and that determines the reject heat that needs to be eliminated. The important factor is the AMOUNT of heat, in Btu's, that determines the volume of coolant, in terms of GPM @ at worst case conditions......high ambient and pump's minimum RPM ( low velocity). BT.W.....the anti cavitation device is actually the pump housing and the CLOSER (within 0.015") the impeller is to the housing, the less possibility of cavitation will occur, especially at high pump RPM.....just thought you might like to know......
BOB RENTON

 

[hunt2elk]

Do you know how many Btu's of heat is in the "about 5°F degrees" you noted? The type of coolant is being used? What is the temperature of the coolant entering the engine and existing the engine? That determines the amount of heat the coolant absorbed and that determines the reject heat that needs to be eliminated. The important factor is the AMOUNT of heat, in Btu's, that determines the volume of coolant, in terms of GPM @ at worst case conditions......high ambient and pump's minimum RPM ( low velocity). BT.W.....the anti cavitation device is actually the pump housing and the CLOSER (within 0.015") the impeller is to the housing, the less possibility of cavitation will occur, especially at high pump RPM.....just thought you might like to know......
BOB RENTON

Hey Bob, why don't you leave me the **** alone? You have got to be the most arrogant, annoying person on the planet. Why don't you go sit in a corner and count your big ol' pile of money you allude to having. That should take you awhile? Hopefully a year or 2 so we don't have to listen to your pompous bullshit anymore......

 

[RJRENTON]

Hey Bob, why don't you leave me the **** alone? You have got to be the most arrogant, annoying person on the planet. Why don't you go sit in a corner and count your big ol' pile of money you allude to having. That should take you awhile? Hopefully a year or 2 so we don't have to listen to your pompous bullshit anymore......

Perhaps you should go back to school and learn a few fundamental aspects of physics and thermodynamics.....or.....just continue to plod along......hoping for the best outcome.....
BOB RENTON