Fellow Moparians,
I have a 1989 Dodge Lancer Shelby, 2.2 Turbo II engine. My water pump housing has a crack in it so time to get a new WHOLE water pump, housing and all. Since, from time to time, in the summer, on full boost for more than a minute or so the water temp gets a bit high I was thinking, while I'm at it, why not put in a "high performance water pump". The turbo II is the same engine as in a lot of other cars of that era, I figure someone has had to have gone this route before. The electric pump sounds like an easy fix but I am not sure it sounds like a reliable solution, particularly since it will be hitting the battery pretty hard. I have looked at a few mechanical pump vendors but have been seeing mostly V8 solutions. Has anyone out there got so me pointers?
I just noticed that the water pump housing on this car is integrated with the alternator belt adjustment mechanism (or at least that is what it looks like at this point). So, in case I have to go "stock" where would be the best place to find the housing? I have tried mopar.com, rockauto.com, and a couple of other sites, no dice. I would hate to have to put a junkyard piece in as who knows how long that will last. Is there any place to get quality engine parts for these cars?
HWBAD