Quote:
Originally Posted by rick3000
I'm in the preventative water pump replacement camp (about every 65-70k miles), I changed mine over the summer along with updating to the low temp thermostat. Hopefully, you won't encounter too many issues from the lost impeller bits, several people have continued to drive their cars with impeller bits in the system. They most likely get stuck somewhere in the radiators and oil cooler. It's not ideal, but it probably won't self destruct the engine too quickly. 
Any idea what caused the rust?
I've never seen rust like that on an internal component, maybe someone was topping off with tap water? |
I have read plenty of times between here and Rennlist that the water pump should be replaced every 3-5 years regardless of mileage. Followed by responses that 3 years is overkill.
This water pump still had the original metal gasket, but looked like it may have been removed and resealed a while ago. I expect that it is original to the 1997 engine. What I really didn't understand is why anyone would remove the thermostat. A quick Google revealed plenty of people thinking that it would help the engine run cooler - bad idea.
I think that the coolant (yellow) had been mixed with tap water. There was no sign of intermix, but plenty of mineral scale in what I flushed out. I'm going to run it for a few months and flush it out again. Hopefully it's still healthy, but I'm not placing any bets.