60K mile service. DIY waterpump

Travelling back 'home' next week to the USA from the Great White North. I'm ordering some parts from the land of cheap online retailers to bring back with me duty free. Contemplating a waterpump from Autohaus AZ for $210ish. In Canada they look to be about $350.

What's the consensus. replace a waterpump pre-emptively with the Sbelt?

Peter

I did and would recommend it. The one I took out had a tiny bit of play in the shaft but was over 10 years old so I was OK with replacing it. I lost the S belt at the track due to a bad tensioner pulley so check that and the two fixed ones, too. If they are noisy, replace them. I don't think Autohaus carries the pullies (or they didn't then) but I got them online from somewhere.

Yeah, my boxster is a 2001, so I guess the waterpump doesn't owe me anything with 60+K miles on it.

Thanks for the feedback,
Peter

Mine started to show signs of leaking at around 55K miles last year. So replaced it then along with the serp belt.

If I recall the pulleys were about $75 each. Not cheap but worth doing pre-emptively in my opinion when you are already in deep enough to do the water pump.

... don't fix it".
Very seldom does a water pump with less than 90,000 miles fail out-of-the-blue.
If you carefully inspect the underside of the engine when changing oil, for instance, you can see telltale signs of coolant leaks from the water pump way before it fails. Coolant dries out as a white powder which is easily identifiable.
Generally, that's the time I recommend replacing it, if and when you see the white residue..
I have seen many a pump go over 150,000 and even 200,000 miles (my own car) with the OEM water pump and coolant.
Remember, Porsche states that these cars have lifetime coolant. No need to freshen it up.

Most of the water pump and reservoir failures I see also happen to people who constantly open remove the coolant cap to top off.
The coolant system is a sealed system, meaning that it requires no maintenance unless there's a failure somewhere in the system.
Because coolant expands as it heats, the level will change somewhat between hot and cold engine states. A low level in this case does not mean that you've lost coolant.
Every time you open the coolant cap with the engine warm to hot you will loose some coolant volume in the form of water (vapor).
Eventually this will allow air in the system which can cause the water pump impeller vanes to fail due to cavitation (pumping air bubbles with the coolant).
Once the vanes start to erode (they're made of plastic) they no longer are balanced and therefore start to wobble, eventually leading to leaks in the water pumps seal and complete pump failure.

Moral of the story: Unless you have a system leak somewhere like a radiator or a hose, leave the coolant cap alone. Your pump, the reservoir and you pocket will thank you.
Happy Boxstering,
Pedro

Pedro Bonilla
1998 Boxster 986 - 311,000+ miles: [www.PedrosGarage.com]
PCA National Club Racing Scrutineer - PCA National HPDE Instructor - PCA Technical Committee (Boxster/Cayman)

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Racecar spelled backwards is Racecar

"Racing is life. Anything before or after is just waiting" ... Steve McQueen as Michael Delaney in "LeMans"

"If you wait, all that happens is that you get older"... Mario Andretti

"Being second is to be the first of the ones who lose" ... Ayrton Senna

While I agree with Pedro, note that he prefaced his remarks with:

"If you carefully inspect the underside of the engine when changing oil, for instance..."

For the majority of the people here, that's not just a big 'If'' that's a "It doesn't happen. Period".

I had a water pump fail one very cold night, late, on the highway, not particularly close to any towns, about 100 miles from home. For good measure, it took several fan blades with it, and made some impressive dents in the radiator.

Long story short, about 5 days, one tow job, and two long bus rides later, I finished the trip, with a new water pump and a substantial bill.

I am a strong believer in replacing water pumps (and any other known wear/failure items) prophylactically,

I should add that I always change my own oil, but I don't have a lift, and therefore the opportunity to carefully inspect the underside of the engine is limited.

Its demise was slow and predictable.

As some of you know, i recently replaced a damaged motor in a car with 150k on the old motor. I sourced a 27k motor and replaced a few strategic bits. Among those to be swapped was the 1.5 year old "new" unit from the old motor, to replace the 14 year-old one on the "new" motor.

The "new" water pump had tons of play as was shot. The original 14 year old one had no appreciable play and spun like glass.

So new is not always better.

Grant

Grant

gee-lenahan-at-gee-mail-dot-com

If there's something you want that doesn't show up in a regular search, just fill out the online parts request and they will send you a link to the part.

"What's the consensus. replace a waterpump pre-emptively with the Sbelt?"
I'm not sure you'll get consensus here, but here's my two cents:

I, like Pedro, believe in "If it ain't broke, don't fix it' but I think in your case, especially, it makes sense to replace it and here's why:
During a routine inspection, I noticed wear on the accessory belt. My Boxster had about 80k miles on it so I decided those two circumstances were enough to determine that it was time to replace my accessory drive belt...so I did. Within the next 200 miles, while on a day trip, I noticed a noise. After the trip and I got back home I did some investigating. There was a slight leak near the shaft of the water pump. There was also a tiny bit of play as well. So, I ordered and replaced the pump. I'm not sure if a new belt and its increased tension contributed to the water pump failure or if it was coincidental. I do know this: If I had it to do over again, I'd do it all at once.

My water pump failed big time last year and I had to have the car flat-bedded home. I replaced the pump myself with the car on tall home made ramps. A very awkward finger scraping job. I also fitted a new belt, new ball races in the pulleys and bottom hoses. The pulley bearings are easy to push out using a decent vice and a lot cheaper than complete pulley assemblies from Porsche.

Given my time again I would fit a new pump a week before the old one failed.......!