Quote Originally Posted by waste View Post
Sorry you're having this problem - I know how frustrating it is to do everything right and still end up with a drip or leak!

Any chance that the mounting or sealing plate is cracked? (sorry, that's the last thing I can think of)

Please keep us informed as to your progress with this (we really do care about you and your pool )

[edit] did you put the rubber side of the 1600- Z -1 into the sealing plate? ( I have had a couple pool owners install the ceramic side towards the motor, and it leaked within 1 day - I mean NO offense with this question, but I've seen it happen) [/edit]
Trust me, no offense taken what so ever. My explaining about building car engines was just to give you all a baseline as to my basic mechanical experience and in no way do I think I know what the heck is going on with these things. So I view no advice as too insignificant. Yes, I did install the ceramic side up and away from the motor, so that you see the ceramic as you are assembling everything. The impeller seal was installed so that the rubber side meets up with the ceramic side of the other seal. My mechanical experience tells me something is worn out and the tolerances are just too much to seal but as stated before, I'm so new at this, I feel like it's likely I could be wrong. The last time I pulled everything apart, I layed everything out on the rubber mat on the bench and inspected each piece and cleaned all of the surfaces and then assembled the whole thing very carefully. I made sure to tighten the pump in a crossing pattern to ensure a clean and flush torque of the plate. I really did everything I could think of to make sure I didn't have another leak.....so I'm pretty baffled. At what point do you throw in the towel and replace the pump part? I thought I saw that there was a replacement part that includes the whole pump from motor to (the top piece that slides in the box) sorry for lack of termonology. Thanks again for the responses guys. I told the wife I was renting a bulldozer this afternoon and filling it with dirt. The rest of the story is that the pool house had a pipe freeze and burst over the winter and by the time I found it I had to rip out the floor, one wall, all the plumbing.....so I'm still yet to get the pool open....when I got everything put back together was when I found the motor to be shot....so it's been a nightmare this year. Thanks again!!

Quote Originally Posted by PoolDoc View Post
Ted's already said what I would have . . . and thought of something that never occurred to me.

The only think I can add is: "think it through!".

By this I mean, look at the pump, and the pieces, and mentally work through all the possible paths water could take, and end up where ever you are seeing it end up. If you build motors, you can almost certainly do the visualization required to do what I'm suggesting. Once you've thought through all the possible paths, go back and look at the pump and pieces again, and check each with the understanding in view of HOW it would have to fail to produce the results you are seeing.

Be particularly careful to make sure you clearly understand how each seal, and especially the pump seal, works . . . then you can understand how it would have to fail to do what it's doing, and THEN you'll know where to look to find the failure.