LASO water pumps

[jaykay]

How do all feel about this aftermarket part? Is it better quality than oem or worse. I am considering it as i will be changing it every few years so...

[JFP in PA]

Not good; several reports around of them not making 2K miles after install. While a pump change on these cars is not all that hard, fresh coolant adds significant costs, along with the grief of bleeding the system afterwards if you do not have the vacuum filling system. You really don't want to skimp on the pump......

[Steve Tinker]

+1
Theres a couple of guys here in Australia who had early failures of Laso water pumps. When I changed out mine earlier this year, I decided to go the genuine article from Jake Raby's Flat 6 organisation in Georgia and had it shipped to me - got it within 7 days, awsome service. I'm good for another 3-4 years now without any worries.
Why would you go with aftermarket for such an important piece of hardware for only a few $$ more....??

[Idaho Red Rocket 3]

I've seen some aftermarket pumps with metal impellers. What about those ?

[insite]

I asked jake about that last week. They used to recommend the metal. Now they don't; when the bearings go bad, the impellers chew up the aluminum block. He says use plastic, but change it every couple years before the impeller breaks down.

[clickman]

If someone's trying to save a few bucks, I can offer them the OEM water pump I pulled off my car a couple of weeks ago. Still looks good and I'll let it go cheap! And only 90.000 km and 10 years on it.

[jaykay]

Okay thanks guys was just wondering whether there was a better option than oem...maybe I'll buy Norm's pump since he has broken it in for me already

Do you guys take the front mount down to do it....kinda dislike swinging the engine down on floor and jack stand. My front mount is in great shape and don't need to pull it.

[san rensho]

Just did the water pump and motor mount his weekend and it was a breeze. Taking out the mount makes changing the pump much easier and vice versa. Once you drain the coolant you can move the hoses to the side and and the mount comes right out. Then, the water pump is much more accesible and most importantly, you can use a torquue wrench on all the bolts.

I used the car's service jack to hold the engine up. Put it on top of a couple of pieces of 2X6 and I could raise and lower the with just finger pressure on the jack screw.