Have you ever heard of a KTM 450 EXC? It’s an Austrian dirt bike that is pretty popular across the world. Wes Prunckle of San Pedro, California is an avid fan of this particular bike – he loves riding out on a trek with his three sons. But a broken seal and leaking water pump was putting a real damper on their adventurous family outings.
His sons came to the rescue! Since Wes’s sons are heavy into mechanical engineering (all three have degrees in the field), they decided to try to fix the problem for their Dad so that he could to continue to ride his Austrian dirt bike on their fantastic family treks. PC – Plumbing Epoxy was part of the solution, especially with its fast-cure time and durable sealing nature.
“We waited for it to cure overnight since the first day was lost trying to fix it. The first two attempts didn’t completely fix the problem, but our process was also different” said Wes in a recent email to PC Products.
But the initial delay didn’t cause the Prunkle boys to give up at all. They just tinkered with their design. “It didn’t work until my one son drew up a finalized solution and capitalized on how to compress the epoxy in and hold the seal – but still allow the water pump shaft to turn,” added Wes.
Wes’s sons sent us some hand-drawn pictures to show how they compressed the epoxy (using a washer and socket) carefully into place to hold and seal the broken water pump.
It was a critical maneuver – the PC- Plumbing epoxy seal had to hold the original seal and not allow it to spin since it was broken in half. At the same time, it was necessary that the water pump shaft be able to turn to allow the new epoxy seal to not move or turn.
Sounds difficult. Sounds technical. Sounds iffy. But nope – the PC – Plumbing Epoxy seal held. Wes was ecstatic. “This solution worked and I was able to ride a 40 mile trail ride with no water leak!”
Ride on, Wes. Ride on.