Thoughts on Water Pumps

[rick3000]

Buy a Pierburg WP, they are same ones that come in the Porsche box for a bit less. It's not worth (in my opinion) trying to save money on anything to do with the coolant system in these cars.

[jrblackman]

Originally Posted by rick3000

Buy a Pierburg WP, they are same ones that come in the Porsche box for a bit less. It's not worth (in my opinion) trying to save money on anything to do with the coolant system in these cars.

Yup, I went with the Pieirburg.

[356Guy]

Just changed out a cheap water pump with 6000 miles on it. There was play in the bearing.

[dghii]

Originally Posted by 356Guy

Just changed out a cheap water pump with 6000 miles on it. There was play in the bearing.

Yeah, I may regret my gates WP but so far so good. I certainly have had good luck with their other products.

Here's my crappy rational...
My 84 Alfa Spider used to go through OEM Bosch fuel pumps at $250+ apiece. I didn't drive the car a lot so maybe it didn't like sitting. The pumps were whiny as well.
Well, in 2007, the car strands me again and just to get it off the side of the road, I buy a no name pump in stock at local Autozone for $159. I install the pump and the first time I turn the key to on, I hear nothing. I start the car and it starts up fine. 10 years later, its still on my car and very quiet.

Fast forward to the Boxster...Somehow a $200+ OEM WP that sees to fail around 50k miles (or folk seem to want to proactively replace) doesn't seem that impressive, hence, I'll try the crappy Gates pump and see what happens.

I don't expect my rational to convince anyone else, nor am I trying to do so.

Now in retirement, I figure my car will be driven 2-4K miles a year. Age of parts will be more of an issue than use.
Either way, since this is a fairly easy DYI, if I have to replace the part in the next year or two, no biggie.

[j.fro]

Check the impeller on the old pump. If it looks like the blades have any damage, flush the system forwards and backwards like there is no tomorrow. If afterwards you see any high temps, cool it off and flush again. Cracked heads are no joke.

[78F350]

"Thoughts on Water Pumps"

I expect that my thoughts will differ from many.

• Many owners have had original water pumps last well over 100K miles and longer than 15 years. Many have had a variety of significant failures well short of that. These engines can be ruined by a failed pump.
• Waiting for symptoms of a problem before changing the pump sounds crazy to me. It's not that difficult a job. The cost is not significant compared with other regular maint items.
• Efficient/proper cooling is critical in these engines.
• Pierburg makes the OE pumps and can be purchased at a significant discount by a savvy shopper.
• Many other reputable manufacturers make good, adequate pumps to "OE specification" (what does that really mean) for between $100-$200.
• My version of the internet said it is best to change them every 3-5 years. I'm cool with that.
• Metal? or composite? I don't care. Both have modes of failure that will ruin my engine. Buy adequate quality of either and replace it short of the design life cycle.

Lastly, I know a guy that worked with a major OE parts supplier. They made the parts to the specifications of the buyer -Ford/Toyota/MB.... They also had their own production line for aftermarket. The materials and quality could be quite different between the production lines.