Anyone running with a metal impeller water pump?
 

Finally got some nice spring weather and been re-acquainting myself with my 01s.

Im going to put it up on the lift soon and do a bunch of maintenance of on it.

The current water pump is at least 7 yrs old and has between 40 and 80K miles on it.

A few years ago, I was planning on doing the water pump and never got around to it. I bought a metal impeller Pierburg brand water pump at the time.

It's been sitting on the shelf in my garage since. Now there is Internet hysteria (?!) about catastrophic failures of metal impeller pumps.

I am trying to figure out if I should put this one in, or forkout money for a different plastic impeller water pump.

Peter

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My pierburg had a composite impellor, is there a chance it is just dark gray composite and looked metal? Post a photo if it is handy.

Really Peter, you should read the sh**load of posts on this forum about this. Search metal impeller.
Enough can already go wrong without gambling.

A genuine Pierburg WP should not have a metal impeller, the impeller should be dark grey plastic.

Jesus christ not again. SEARCH.

And please...don't ask about oil next.

I will take it out of the box and take a look. Thx

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http://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/2016...521261ce77.jpg
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OK. Is this metal or composite. It's a brown color impeller.

Unsealed the box tonight.

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Get a battery....
 

.....hook up a positive wire and a negative wire.......

You mean test the resistance?

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That looks like a composite impeller - to be sure just check its resistance with a multimeter. If its the same resistance as touching the multimeter prongs together, its metal.

Pierburg has always a composite impellers. And this one is also cheap plastic. So wouldn't fit for me. ;)

Regards, Markus

Looks like composite to me, you should be good to go!

Great news. My memory was a little foggy. This pump has been sitting on the shelf for maybe 4 yrs.

Yeah, I procrastinate.

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Do you have a new gasket? Some of the water pumps come with a felt or other type of gasket but for this one you want the OEM style metal gasket. If your original water pump is still on the car you will have to trim away the old gasket since it is shared with the oil pump housing. That is one way to tell if you are still on the original water pump when you remove it.

Lots of good details here:

Porsche Boxster Water Pump and Thermostat Replacement - 986 / 987 (1997-08) - Pelican Parts Technical Article

If you are down there it is a good time to replace the thermostat too.

Good luck with your project!
Steve

Do you have a magnet?

Magnet doesn't work on the housing or impeller. Definitely non-ferrous

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Wow, some of you guys are brutal! Maybe you would be more at home over at Rennlist??

Getting the same threads within a week of each other, almost to the letter, is brutal. It's common forum etiquette on every forum I've ever partaken in. Use the search function first. If you think I'm brutal you need to get some calluses.

You're the one swearing away and you are going to lecture on forum etiquette? And if you are all concerned with getting some calluses, maybe you should take your own advice and grow a calluse about all these same threads.

Swearing away? If what I've said offends you, you should really stay off the Internet. Or for that matter don't leave your home.

Did I say it offended me? You aren't too bright, are you?

Well, I've been on here on and off since 2007,and bought my car in 2009.

I did search about the different types of water pumps, and thought I had bought a metal impeller version back in 2011/12.

Turns out I didn't.

That being said, I did inquire about the life of a metal impeller pump and was going to base my decision on whether I used one on how much useful life I thought I could get out of it. Say if I had a sample size of 10-20 real posters here on 986forum, rennlist.com, or renntech or pedrosboard.com that said they got XX, 000 miles out of their pump before they replaced it, then I might consider putting it in for 60% of that life if I could get 2-3 yrs out of it.

Or if I had 2-3 people that said they got YY, 000 miles out of their pump before failure, I might go with 40% of that number again if it lasts me 2-3 yrs of projected driving life.


I didn't find either of those numbers.

I don't mind wrenching on the car. The roads around here are boring, straight although being rural, there is plenty of opportunity to wind it up a bit as the police presence is scarce. However, I've got 2 young kids and 1 wife, and only 1 passenger seat, so if I'm wrenching at least I'm at home with them and spending quality time with the boxster.

My car is a fair weather car only from April to early November.

I'm not rich enough to just throw out a part willy nilly without trying to figure out if I can get some life out of it. I guess I could have put it up on eBay and recouped some money that way.

These cars have been around for almost 20 yrs now. There really isn't a whole lot new to discuss. This is the same with all 986 related boards. The trends repeat themselves over and over.

The typical life span of a water pump still is an unanswered question in my research. I believe porsche intended it to be a lifetime part according to their maintenance schedule. We are now away from that view.

My current pump might be original, and might be 15yrs old with 124,000km on it. Never topped up the coolant in the past 7yrs. It's coming out this spring and I'm going to put in this brown composite impeller pump in. No idea how long this current pump will last, all my other vehicles have had timing belts and the pumps got replaced before failure when I replace the TBs at around 120,000km.

Peter

PS. I don't mind a good oil discussion.


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The lifespan of the WP in a 986 is variable, and it is not on any official maintenance schedule. There is no way to really determine when they fail, the average life from what I have seen appears to be in the 60-80k mile range, with some failing sooner and some lasting longer.

That said, it is best to replace them before they fail to avoid either impeller bits in the coolant system or boring a hole into the engine casing. It's completely debatable, but the suggested preventative WP replacement seems to be in the 50-70k mile range. I had mine replaced under warranty at 30k miles, I replaced it preventatively at 95k, and I will replace it again in 60k miles, assuming I am not experiencing symptoms of a WP failure before then. :cheers:

The problem with the metal impeller vs the composite is that when it fails and starts to wobble the impeller doesn't disintegrate like the composite and it instead mills the block, which isn't good. Most of the metal impeller pumps also don't last as long as the pierbergs from what I've read.

You caught me. Due to the large number of paint chips I ate as a kid and the repeated number of times my careless mother dropped me on my head, my little brain just can't process things like yours can.

Well Peter, you're good to go! Happy wrenching! :)

Well Peter, you're good to go! Happy wrenching! :)
BTW, don't we have the popcorn box emoji on this forum?

I can give a data point - I replaced my water pump proactively (there was nothing that appeared to be wrong with it and no leaks) in January 2015 at 115,000 miles (car is a 2000 so 15 years old). It turned out to be the original WP still, and it wasn't wobbly but the bearing was rough when I spun the WP by hand. The new one was silky smooth.

Jake Raby recommends replacing every 3 years regardless of mileage in this rennlist thread (kind of old so he may have updated his guidance since then)

Well, i think if you drive 35 K miles a year with your Box, 3 years might be OK. At the moment i'm pretty proud if i drive more than 2 K miles a year. ;) So i will have some years left. ;) And my next water pump will be one with a metal impeller. ;)

Regards, Markus

Make sure you don't over torque the nuts - Only 7 lbs I believe and use the metal gasket!

Take a piece of cardboard and make a drawing of the pump housing and where the bolts go -- they are different sizes - I pushed them thru the cardboard drawing. This kept me form screwing them up. You will need a knuckle socket to get to one of the bolts.

there is a bleed under the oil/anti freeze surround - You will need to vent as you top up the coolant or it will not go in.

Happy Wrenching.