Time to change my water pump -- what else at the same time?
 

HI,

My 2001 986 Boxster S just turned over 60,000 miles today, and I decided that it's time to change the original water pump as a preventative maintenance matter.

So what else should I change with it? I bought the car with low mileage and use it as a daily driver, and I don't mind spending a little more money to replaces hoses, clamps, etc that would be logical to replace with the pump.

Any recommendations are appreciated, and thanks in advance!

~j

Get a good strong flashlight and and your favorite beverage.
Now start at the top of the engine or underneath.
Take your time look at everything you can.
Keep looking until the beverage is gone.
(sometimes I go through two)
Visual inspection will tell you if a hose or belt or clamp needs replaced.
Visual inspection will tell you if you have any oil leaks.
Visual inspection "can" tell you if you have a suspension component issues.
Visual inspection will tell you more about your car then we can.

Check the six axle bolts (per side) for proper torque.

Take the car for a drive.
How does it feel?
How does it sound?
How does it smell?
How does it respond?

One of the things you can't see is the motor mount rubber bushing.
but if it needs replaced you can feel the engine rock forward when you go from a stand still to just rolling.
You can also feel it in the gear shift handle when you just take off.
If it has never been replaced it is most likely shot.

So do a good visual inspection and use your senses.
The car will tell you what it needs.
You just have to know how to listen.

Do the thermostat as well. Many go with a low temp one. Do a search here and see the pros and cons. You can get just the thermostat and don't need to replace the housing

Hoses. You may not have a lot of miles, but they could be 23 years old

Motor mount. You can get just the insert and have someone press it in

serpentine belt

don't over torque the bolts. I had one snap. Best might be replace them. I used cap head bolts

have fun

Agree with Blue. (And Jay!)

And your timing is probably good: Mine is also an '01 S. I checked my records—my pump crapped out on me at 58,400 miles. It's better to replace it before that happens. It's time.

Here’s a tip that another forum member gave to me:

The fasteners appear similar, but they have different lengths. Make a cardboard template using the new water pump as a guide. That will help you keep track of the location of each fastener. The person who gave me this advice put a long fastener in a short hole. When he tightened it he broke it.

That is a good suggestion, not just for the water pump. Other thing bolt together with different length bolts.

BTW, that wasn't the case when my bolt snapped :cheers:

Do the motor mount while you're in there. With it absent... there's one particular bolt for the water pump that will be much easier to access. Remove mount... then water pump. Install new waetr pump... then the mount. May have to lift the engine a bit, no big deal. Do some reading from upon these pages and it will be a, relatively speaking, breeze. Be patient. :cheers:

Thanks to all who responded, solid suggestions, particularly about the motor mount & cold beverage. :)

I've been around a lot of cars and machinery in general in my life, and one concern I have is that if I were to replace some of the cooling hoses but not all them whatever ones are left become the weak link and will. fail. I suppose I see it as all or nothing on the hoses, unless one or two in particular are known to be failure prone with age. Any thoughts on that?

And does anyone know of a resource that shows a list of parts numbers for all of the hoses in the cooling system? I've tried to figure out how to build that list out of various on-line catalogs but haven't found a single list that makes it easy.

Appreciate the help!

~j

Coolant flush. Things have changed with coolant. Car parts stores now sell pre-diluted coolant for different makes and year ranges. Coolant for early 2000s, for porsche, is pink. No idea what the difference is. Too bad, I had already gone to the grocery store to get distilled H2O.

I could be wrong (and somebody correct me if so!)...but isn't it less expensive to buy the concentrated stuff and mix it with the much-more-reasonably-priced distilled water?

Yes it is. And the pink stuff for my 97 Porsche is readily available at the local Chinese Part Emporiums.

Was that really necessary " local Chinese Part Emporiums"???
I don't think most autoparts stores, especially the chains, are Chinese

Maybe not Chinese, per se... but the majority of the parts are made in China.

Maybe we need a "Politics" board? ;)