Water Pump Replaced after 32,000 Miles
 

Yesterday I replaced the water pump on the 2K S. The pump was replaced at 45K just before I purchased the car with 48K on it. A few weeks ago at 77K on it now, the pump begins to howl. Checked it out and found movement in the bearing and that dry bearing sound. No leak or cooling problems. So the search for an affordable pump begins. I found all the name brand pumps between $300 and $400. Not what I think it should cost for such a small piece. I found a new pump made in USA at Napa and Car Quest. Napa at $135 and Car Qwest at $172. Neither were in stock so I asked both to order it in. When they came in I inspected both. They were from the same manufacturer just marketed through the 2 different venders. Here is where the controversy begins. They both have metal impellers. Hmmmm? Do I do it or not?

I decide to go for the Napa at $135. I also ordered a low temp t-stat from another vender because Napa only had the OEM temp t-stat. When I pulled out the old pump the plastic impeller and everything else looked just fine. Bad dry bearing sound and a little movement in the shaft. Installed new pump and low temp t-stat and all is well. Nice to see lower temps on the gauge.

Why can't we just get the bearing and seal replaced for a few bucks when this fails ???

Bill

First of all, after market pumps, particularly those with metal impellers, are a bad idea. Experience has shown they are not reliable, plus when the bearing goes (and it will) the metal impeller will start to chew up the engine case; this is why the OEM pump is a composite style impeller design.

No one rebuilds water pumps these days, simply is not cost effective.

Hi JFP,

I expected to get the metal impeller bad idea pep talk. I have read the posts over the years lamb blasting the very idea. There have been a few brave owners who have tried them, and I supported the attempt in the quest for usable data.

I am trying the pump anyway as it is already installed. I don't know if the pump I purchased is any worse than the one it replaced. As the bearing failed on it in 32K miles. No contact with the engine block was detected from the failing bearing pump when it came out. I am good at noticing things such as vibration and sound that are not right. It is a gift I suppose. I am going to be diligent as time passes with these lower cost solution components. Let's see what happens over time. I am willing to be exposed to the risk for the benefit of gathering data that can help sort out what we decide to do with our cars.

How many metal impeller pumps are you aware of being installed and failing? It would be good to know the statistics.

Bill

I can only speak from my shop's experience, and that has been awful with the aftermarket pumps; nearly everyone died way too quickly, some catastrophically. We completely stopped using them.

And JFP isn't the only shop owner to say the metal impeller causes $$$ problems.

Composite impeller
 

I replaced my waterpump a couple weeks ago. When I saw the condition of this composite impeller, I realized why porsche doesn't us metal. I replaced this waterpump with a Napa rebuild. My goal was to get a waterpump with a composite impeller and a lifetime warranty. I would have preferred a "new pump", but, the rebuild sold by Napa (remanufactured by Cardone) is what met my criteria.



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What brands are considered an "original" and not aftermarket? I have been told that Laso was an original supplier, but not sure what brands we can trust and what brands to stay away from. Some advertisers tend to shade the truth and hint that theirs is an original part. Does anyone have a list ot safe brands?