Patent ID: 6863035

Claim:
A coolant pump for use with an internal combustion engine having a crankshaft and a camshaft driven by the crankshaft, said coolant pump comprising: a pump housing fixedly mountable to the engine and including an inlet opening to receive coolant and an outlet opening to discharge coolant; an impeller shaft mounted directly to the camshaft so as to be concentrically rotatably driven thereby; a pump impeller operatively mounted to the impeller shaft within the pump housing and including a plurality of axial extending projections, the pump impeller rotatable to draw the coolant into the pump housing through the inlet opening and discharge the coolant at a higher pressure through the outlet opening; and a seal assembly having a surface engaged with the plurality of axial extending projections of the pump impeller so as to maintain perpendicular alignment of the seal assembly with respect to the impeller shaft.