Hello Boiler Room,
I think I found what appears to be an assembly error on my 1 year old taco pump. A few weeks ago my taco pump began making what sounded like a bad bearing noise so I called taco and the tech support line asked me to take the pump apart and check for debris stuck in the impeller. Upon taking the pump apart I notice the cartridge o-ring wasn't installed correctly. The oring wasn't down in the groove at all. The metal spacer appears to have been bent when they were tightening the 4 housing bolts. I didn't find any debris in the pump so I installed the oring in the proper location and reassembled the pump. The pumped leaked between the cast iron housing and the motor housing so I removed and took the pump apart again. I determined that since the metal spacer was bent it wasn't pressing against the cartridge and oring properly. I took the metal piece to my vise between two pieces of wood and straightened it the best I could. No leaks now and the pump is quieter however I feel taco owes me a new one because I don't complete trust this one. I attached a picture of the bent metal spacer and the housing with the oring installed incorrectly.
![Taco 008 pump noise - Factory Assembly error Taco 008 pump noise - Factory Assembly error](https://www.hearth.com/talk/data/attachments/122/122261-7ba3a0e97b1a12e4cffe8f207e915d6c.jpg)
I think I found what appears to be an assembly error on my 1 year old taco pump. A few weeks ago my taco pump began making what sounded like a bad bearing noise so I called taco and the tech support line asked me to take the pump apart and check for debris stuck in the impeller. Upon taking the pump apart I notice the cartridge o-ring wasn't installed correctly. The oring wasn't down in the groove at all. The metal spacer appears to have been bent when they were tightening the 4 housing bolts. I didn't find any debris in the pump so I installed the oring in the proper location and reassembled the pump. The pumped leaked between the cast iron housing and the motor housing so I removed and took the pump apart again. I determined that since the metal spacer was bent it wasn't pressing against the cartridge and oring properly. I took the metal piece to my vise between two pieces of wood and straightened it the best I could. No leaks now and the pump is quieter however I feel taco owes me a new one because I don't complete trust this one. I attached a picture of the bent metal spacer and the housing with the oring installed incorrectly.
![Taco 008 pump noise - Factory Assembly error Taco 008 pump noise - Factory Assembly error](https://www.hearth.com/talk/data/attachments/122/122260-f405249d29930ff852d2294dad344a10.jpg)
![Taco 008 pump noise - Factory Assembly error Taco 008 pump noise - Factory Assembly error](https://www.hearth.com/talk/data/attachments/122/122261-7ba3a0e97b1a12e4cffe8f207e915d6c.jpg)