Found impeller bit in coolant but the pump seems new
 

I am working through the problems on my newly aquired boxster. When flushing the coolant I found an impeller blade. The blade is black but the current pump has brown blades. The PO must have had a failure and changed the pump.

What is the best way to deal with this situation now considering I don't know what was done when it occurred? Judging from other goofs I've found, such as camshaft bearing bridges upside down etc. anything is possible.

Check the heat exchanger on top of the engine. That is where other parts of the impeller my accumulate and obstruct coolant flow.

Thanks.

Can it be flushed, or should I replace it?

Better replace it. I suspect you'll never get all parts out of it. Also it will not that easy to flush, because it's an combined water/oil cooler and you shouldn't mix up water and oil and you might need pressure to get everything out. So i think it's easier to replace.

Also replace all the seals. That is very important.

Regards, Markus

Thanks guys.

Remove the water pump and see if you can flush the system backwards to see if any broken impeller parts have collected in a point that might be able to be dislodged and removed.

Not an expert -- but I have heard of blade parts breaking off and blocking passages in the heads which lead to hot spots and ultimately cracked heads.

Mike

Not to start a ruckus but this is why I prefer metal blades to plastic.Yes, you need to check the w/p bearings regularly but I would do that anyway. As this thread indicates ,dismissing metal blades because the plastic ones do not abrade the crankcase half is only a part of the issue and open to rebuttal. Distributed broken plastic impeller blade parts cause different but expensive problems.
I do so wish Porsche had waited a little with the M96 and just copied/scaled up the Honda Valk flat 6. Lancia Flavia, & Subaru.

Let's hope no small impeller bits are blocking head cooling passages or you will have cracked heads and intermix

If you did that with a plastic one -- you would never have a problem either -- and in case of failure, you wouldn't have to toss the block.

I've seen the damage a metal blade causes.... not good.

I've also seen what non-OEM WPs have done -- had 2 die on me <1000 miles on two different Boxsters.... never again.

YMMV, but I'll stick to OEM plastic.

Mike

I'll do the metal one. ;)

And i'm not afraid to do, beause i know what i do and why i'm doing it. But i don't want an endless discussion with people who don't understand the why. Only thing i can say is that you never put a metal impeller one in an engine where a plastic one has failed – NEVER! Also very important: there is a GT3 and a non GT3 version. And they are different! ;)

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Regards, Markus – the non conformist. ;)