Engine change problem. Water pump impeller chewed up....Where's the pieces?

[Jake Raby]

Not evasive at all.. Because we never know what pump we will be getting from Porsche, which is where we source them from.

No pump has proven to be better than any others at this point, just know that they ALL need to be changed every 3 years, no matter the mileage if you intend to prevent failures from occurring.

The fact remains, however, that it has been in there three times longer than recommended and has not detonated.

But you don't know that.. The pumps do not have to catastrophically fail, make noise of seize to cause engine failures.. One chip from an impeller blade is all it takes to wipe out an engine.

There is nothing dumb about preventive maintenance, if yours hasn't failed it needs to be changed so it doesn't fail. I come from an Aviation background, I take preventive procedures seriously and thats why those who have us service their vehicles never have engine failures.

Like playing Russian Roulette? Some must because they do it everyday even though they know what the repercussions could be.

[clickman]

Now I don't know what to do. I too was thinking of replacing my water pump in the spring, and using the Flat6 pump because, like Mark T and Mike Focke, had seen that it was a better pump.

Flat6 $314, Suncoast $234, both with gasket

[Jake Raby]

At some points we have thought that one pump was better than another, but the fact is that it hasn't been..

Until we step up and have something made from billet it probably won't be.. The problem with that is that not enough people will buy it, based on the price point.. Everyone is concerned with price on the water pump, so just changing the pump every 3 years is the way more people will go..

Maybe at some point enough people will be willing to spend more money for something thats bulletproof, but it seems those people end up buying our complete engine anyway, sometimes when they haven't even had a failure~

[JTP]

Can just the impeller be replaced on a stock water pump? Maybe make a special FSI or LNE impeller can be produced and retrofitted onto a Porsche pump? Would be a cheaper route IF that's possible.

[Byron in Atlanta]

Originally Posted by Jake Raby

At some points we have thought that one pump was better than another, but the fact is that it hasn't been..
~

So Jake....Have you guys ever seen a water pump that just started shedding vanes from the impeller? If the impeller was completely gone, I would be more inclined to agree with the diagnosis that the water pump impeller broke apart. Normally when we are talking about water pump failure, we are talking about bearing failure. The bearing in this water pump is perfect. The fact that just the vanes are chewed off is what led me to conclude that the engine bits from the exploding case destroyed the vanes, and not vice versa. Truth is, there is no way to be sure what really happened. It's all water under the car now!!!

My two concerns now are how to adequately evacuate the cooling system of debris and will it be best to go with a OEM water pump vs. after market?

[insite]

byron -

with most water pumps, the issue is the bearing. with the plastic pumps, there is the ADDED concern that the impeller can shear off at the hub, leaving it just uselessly sitting there. if you are missing vanes, IMO that occured as a result of foreign object damage.

as for cleaning the cooling system? there are the radiators, the heater core, the overflow tank, and all of the connective tubes. i believe the boxster's heater core ALWAYS has coolant circulating & that heat is actuated with air flaps rather than water flaps. this means your heater core could be mucked up, too......

Originally Posted by Byron in Atlanta

So Jake....Have you guys ever seen a water pump that just started shedding vanes from the impeller? If the impeller was completely gone, I would be more inclined to agree with the diagnosis that the water pump impeller broke apart. Normally when we are talking about water pump failure, we are talking about bearing failure. The bearing in this water pump is perfect. The fact that just the vanes are chewed off is what led me to conclude that the engine bits from the exploding case destroyed the vanes, and not vice versa. Truth is, there is no way to be sure what really happened. It's all water under the car now!!!

My two concerns now are how to adequately evacuate the cooling system of debris and will it be best to go with a OEM water pump vs. after market?