Installing a new hydraulic pump in any piece of equipment when the original one has failed, is costly. If you are dealing with a large machine and a large pump, the cost for the pump might be too high and considering an alternative could be a better option.

Remanufactured Pumps

If the cost of a new hydraulic pump for your equipment is too high, you may want to consider a remanufactured or rebuilt hydraulic pump. For common equipment, you can buy a pump already rebuilt and install it in place of the old one. Most companies that remanufacture these pumps will ask for your old pump in exchange for a lower price so that they can rebuild it and resell it.

If your old hydraulic pump is damaged so badly that it cannot be rebuilt, you may have to pay a slightly higher price for the remanufactured pump when you purchase it. In some situations there will not be a core charge at all because the pumps are so readily available that the company rebuilding them has no problem finding cores to work with.

Rebuilding Your Existing Pump

If the pump in your equipment is rare, or a special one-off item, you may not have the option to buy a remanufactured pump. If this is the case, the alternative is to rebuild the existing pump and reuse it.

Sometimes finding the parts for a unique pump can be difficult. In some cases, parts may need to be custom made or retrofitted from another application that uses similar parts. Make sure that you are using the best parts you can find so that your hydraulic pump rebuild lasts as long as possible.

Working With A Hydraulic Shop

When you are ready to have your pump rebuilt, find a local hydraulic shop and talk to them about what you need done. The hydraulic shop will have the best understanding of how the pump works and what needs to be replaced to get it working again.

Once the pump is disassembled, the hydraulic shop will be able to give you a better idea of what needs to be done to repair it. Most hydraulic shops have machinists on staff that can make parts if something critical is broken inside the pump. In most cases, as long as the pump housing is intact, the shop should be able to rebuild it for you. 

Let the technicians at the hydraulic shop look at the pump part, then you can talk to them about what it's going to cost to rebuild and how much work is involved.