Thing is Gav , a water pump is a low stress item - all its doing is pumping water/coolant mix around the system regardless of speed, impeller design works as well at low revs as it does at high revs
Why the seals fook up is lack of coolant maintenance - as anti-freeze goes off it becomes acidic , its anti-sludge properties break down , its anti-corrosive properties breakdown so all together the seals are exposed to a very unfriendly cocktail.
Regardless , you should change the coolant every 2yrs - I know they call it long life but guess what, that is its life !
If you run your block with the wrong ratio this also causes problems not just cooling! Some might even run with just water as they don't use in the winter and this kills anything in the cooling system as tap water has way too many heavy metals and crap in it - for longevity you should go distilled water + coolant or buy a premix
It's horses for courses - you race an engine and a couple of seasons is fine , you only ever short term own a model then a couple of seasons is OK too, it's us that want to keep our pride n joys who need to heed service schedules.
IMHO
MM!
PS. BAZ , when you do the upgrade - can we get an auto fookin spell checker ! Now at my 6th edit
