Water Pump Longevity

[pilut2]

Originally Posted by 78F350

The water pump looked like this when I replaced it:

Yikes!! I can't imagine what the rest of the innards looked like. This is my 20 year old pump.

[78F350]

Originally Posted by pilut2

Yikes!! I can't imagine what the rest of the innards looked like. This is my 20 year old pump.

The tolerance between the impeller blades and block is very tight on these engines. Just a little bearing play and they begin to contact and wear against the block. That's why the professionals keep saying not to use pumps with metal impellers, they will grind away the block instead of the blades.
Looks like yours was starting to have contact. Good call on replacing it. (Picture rotated and enlarged.)

[pilut2]

Originally Posted by 78F350

Looks like yours was starting to have contact. Good call on replacing it. (Picture rotated and enlarged.)

You might be right. There doesn't seem to be any play in the bearing - but I have noticed that the engine seems to be a bit quieter, there may have been a bit of scraping going on. She is now put to bed for the winter - tucked away in my hangar.

[pilot4fn]

Today I swapped the waterpump and same time the low temp thermostat.
Suprising was that in most instructions I found it is recommended to open/close some of the waterpump bolts from below and some from inside - including that some recommend to remove the passenger seat.
I did remove and install the waterpump and thermostat from under the car and it was actually suprisingly 'roomy' to also torque the bolts.
BTW: the old water pum had approximately 115.000km adn I changed it as a precautionary, partly because the previous owner had changed the pump in past and I do not know what pump it was (not swapped at Porsche dealer, but pivate dedicated shop)

[Rob175]

As I wrote previously in this thread my Boxster's water pump (1998) was just replaced 2 months ago BUT NOT because it failed, or the vanes were self distructing.....instead the pump just began leaking., no more, no less. The pump was original and the vanes looked perfect when removed.