Genuine Water Pump or After Market

[BikerDrew]

My two cents:

I do ALL my own work so I looked at sourcing a water pump last December as mine had a bearing failure at 58K. Upon disassembly, I found no broken impeller parts, just a bearing failure.

I steered away from metal impellers all together. Here's why. WHEN the bearing fails, the impeller will contact your engine case and damage it like a grinder contacting the surface. This may distort the case enough to reduce fluid flow.

After looking around, I got my my local auto parts store to sell me a rebuilt one, with a plastic impeller for....$110 exchange! :dance:

They priced matched an ePray quote, believe it or not. The pump I received was rebuilt locally and looked every bit Porsche OEM. Perhaps even the new bearing was improved? We will see.

It came with a paper gasket, I applied a quality water pump gasket sealant and it actually worked fine. I had to change the pump when it was about 15 degrees outside. Way too cold to work on any vehicle. By far the easiest water pump replacement I have ever done. Oh, and I used Prestone Extended Life coolant and will do a full change out every year.

So far, I have driven about 2500 miles and no issues. I will keep an ear open for bearing failure and be glad I went the route I did. Hope this helps.

[jcb986]

Rebuilding a water pump is no major problem for the rebuilders. They take an OEM part press out the old bearing and impeller shaft. Most will use a manufacturer of bearings like SK. They then soda blast the part to make it like new again and inspect it before installing the new bearing and either installing the old impeller or even replacing it. Most all water pumps fail because the bearing fails.

[JamesBorisPerez]

Excellent advise, I have decided to get the aftermarket water pump from Napa Parts, that way I some local backing. I will get the metal gasket and replace the serpentine belt. I have all the tools now so I plan to get started today.

I will let eveyone know my experience with the project.

Thank You.

[BikerDrew]

Good luck with your project.

Be sure to notice where the two long mounting bolts came from so you can put them back in the same places. The inboard ( hard to reach) bolt is one of them. you will need a 10 mm wrench and a 10mm socket which for me was easier with 1/4 " drive tools. I ordered a metal gasket and had no luck sealing it given the low torque of the fasteners. Maybe it was the temperature outside, but it would not hold presure for me.

BE SURE to bleed ALL the air out of the coolant system. I am sure you can find a thread on that issue. I was easy for my project, so don't worry about it.