So am i correct in thinking that all stock porsche autos have plastic impeller pumps installed from the factory or were ther some years that did not.I have approx 60,000 miles on my 06 BoxsterS with the original pump,i did cheak it in the fall before storage and there was a very small amount of play in the pully,maybe 1 mil,is that exceptable.Thx

Porsche experimented with metal impellers on a small number of the M97 equipped cars, but almost immediately stopped using them for the same reasons discussed here and switched back to composite impellers.

Small play does not stay that way for long -- as soon as it worsens -- that plastic impeller is in jeopardy -- or the whole pulley can come off (seen it twice).

I would plan on replacing the WP as spring maintenance.

Mike

Sorry for my ignorance, so how do I determine if I need to replace my water pump? Play at the pump pulley and sound at start-up? what kind of sound exactly? Thanks!

I look for seepage on the bottom of the pump -- yellow crusty material
and I check for play on the pulley itself with the serpentine belt removed.

Mike

Mine was kind enough to notify my through a slow coolant leak...

Update on the water pump replacement :

As seen on the original post here, the water pump impeller disengrated, and I went with a metal impeller replacement from Autozone - lifetime warranty. That was at 140,000 miles. Two weeks ago, I heard a ticking in the motor, got the stethoscope out, and pinpointed to the water pump. The car now has 152,000 miles on it, six months latter. I purchased original Porsche part, and replaced the metal impeller water pump this weekend. The pump had play, slight leakage, the water level down about a 2cm. No rubbing, scrapping apparent on engine, so I am happy about that.

So yes, as most here noted, best not to fool Mother Porsche - stick with the correct parts. The nice thing is I did get a full refund from Autozone, so kuddo's go out to them.

At the end of the day though, this seems to be a bearing problem. Is there any development for a good bearing that can take the load of the belts, no lubrication, but have a pretty consistent operating temperature, and perform with very tight tolerances for a longer time?

Yes. Go talk to Jake. He's been there done that, too and got the t-shirt. It was a $1,000 water pump. No one wanted to pay for it.

Great information, thanks for posting this. You get what you pay for - sometimes.