Mercedes 1970 W108 280sel water pump NOS

[Gito]

Own a Mercedes 1970 W108 280sel and have a brand new old stock water pump from the late 1980’s. The water pump has been sitting in its original box in the trunk of my car for many years.

Question?
Are the water pump seals pretty much toast making the water pump useless?

Any input is greatly appreciated

 

[oggb]

I think it would depend on how the mechanical seal was constructed. More than likely it's a spring loaded shaft seal made of silicon carbide or some type of ceramic material that is actually doing the sealing/rotating against the stationary part of the seal. If there's rubber it's probably only acting as a grommet to hold the stationary portion of the seal in place and it could be fine.

20-30 years is a long time, though.

 

[AutoMechanic]

I would be worried about them being dried out and brittle. Might be best to get the OEM seals and swap them out if you can find OEM.

 

[Jake_J]

I'd be willing to bet it's perfectly fine, my 83 300D Turbo uses the exact same water pump as a 70 280SEL and it has the original Mercedes nearly 40 year old pump that works fine and doesn't leak. The gasket to the block would be fine sitting in a box all those years, and I can't see how the seal around the bearing would fail from just sitting.

 

[Gito]

Mercedes no longer makes the water pump for my car. Only options are aftermarket water pumps that don’t last as long as Original Equipment water pumps. Some people recommend using water pumps by Graf, Laso, and HEPU yet others continue to say that all aftermarket water pumps for my era vehicle are garbage. So if my current water pump ever fails, I might have to give the old stock water pump a shot.

 

[wings&wheels]

I'd be more concerned about the bearing lubricant. Is that pump serviceable? If so, I would replace the seals and lubricate assuming all else is good. For vintage vehicles, rebuilt NOS is usually second only to current OEM...may even be better.

 

[Jake_J]

Mercedes doesn't make any water pumps, the simply buy them from Graf or another company and have them stamped with the three point star and a Mercedes part number. Mercedes will also buy the same part from two different companies so that no factory fire/flood/strike or company bankruptcy will cause a big supply disruption. The old school Mercedes water pumps are a very simple design so I wouldn't be very worried about brand A or B. You can still get a new Graf water pump from FCPEuro for $45 or a less prestigious/proper Gates or Airtex from RockAuto for $26.