Z71will

marc abrams

lo barato sale caro

mikehayes

To elaborate, yes, it's usually true that you get what you pay for. The waterpump is a fairly simple part - thermostat housing/seal, impeller, shaft, pulley, and mating surface are your function critical parts. The two major things to worry about are a leaky seal to the block and an impeller that's not properly attached to the shaft. If you're willing to take the risk and check those items before you install it, go for it. Make sure the impeller can't spin independently of the pulley, and make sure the mating surface doesn't arrive marred or scratched. For what it's worth, I've bought cheap pumps and had them come scratched, and I've bough cheap pumps that ran 10's of thousands of miles without issue. If it goes bad, you either overheat or slam your pistons into your valves and grenade the engine. It's all about how much those dollars saved are worth to you.

Jfrahm

For cheap pumps I suggest booger-welding the impeller and wheel to the shaft or at least going around the ends of the shaft with a hammer and punch to help retain the impeller and wheel. This trashes the core, but so what if it's a cheap one?
The GMB water pump seems fine to me, I have not looked at a Metrix. GMB sells a lot of water pumps and seems to have an acceptable reputation. Given how much work it is to replace, I do not think I'd drop down to a lower price point from the GMB myself.

PaulD_944S2

You might check out Zims. They have a good reputation for rebuilt water pumps and their pricing is more than reasonable.

https://www.allzim.com/store/

MAGK944

royalschwarz

For about $40 more than Zims you can get a factory rebuilt water pump kit that includes the gasket, all new studs, thermostat and seal, and blockoff plate for NA's complete with a 2 year factory warranty. And it's an actual Porsche water pump, not some Chinese one. But before I knew Porsche offered these kits, I was a loyal Zims customer and very happy with their parts and service.

marc abrams

You can buy a late type water without the hole for the turbo themostat for the NA car for less money than the turbo pump. That's what I did. $230 for a new Laso pump from AutoHaus. Laso p/n 75200101.

MAGK944

Jay Wellwood

You can buy Oats Used, or New.

Of course Used Oats are cheaper, but the quality is not as good as New Oats.

PaulD_944S2

I'm still with Zims.

Wanna guess what a "Porsche" water pump is for an S2 or 89 2.7L?

royalschwarz

Laso is made in Germany. Zims are Uro brand and made in China.

MAGK944

marc abrams

I did read about a couple of the Laso pump failures here. It could have been a bad install, or could have been people talking out of the bottom of their lower intestines. Although there's been no posts about bad URO pumps they only have been out for a few years. BTW $230 for a new Laso pump is a good price. But did you know you could buy a new URO pump for $85 at RockAuto. To the original poster I would go with URO pump from RockAuto if you're on a budget.

Jfrahm

Re: the previous thread someone reported on a GMB pump: "installed a GMB on my wife's Toyota and the impeller exploded after about 80k miles"
That's no good but the 968 GMB pump I bought has a metal impeller and so that should not be a concern. Mine's now welded to the shaft. I chose not to install the pump during my major service last winter after evaluating the one on the car and deciding it was very low miles and genuine Porsche, it's on my shelf to install in the blower car when I get around to that. But in hand it looks like a great water pump and I am running one on a 928 also. Also welded.

I have not actually seen a thread about a walked impeller or seized pump on a 944 lately but I did have an impeller spin on a 944S2. I think I still own that core, I should see if I can find it because I am not sure I verified my assumption that the pump impeller was spun, just replaced stuff and the problem went away. That turned out to be a 145K original water pump I was told had been replaced with a timing belt service shortly before I bought the car (it hadn't). Not a huge deal as they'd also not replaced the front engine seals and it was leaking oil.

Zims trades on their reputation which I think is still good wrt water pumps despite them having to change rebuilders at some point.
I am not a fan of plastic impellers as long as the metal ones are well retained. I understand the 928 people who do not want to mill the block with a walked impeller but I am more concerned about the plastic ones breaking as long as I have demonstrated the "booger weld" on the impeller shaft, which should mean no milling or seizing up.

You can do that weld with a scrap of flux core wire and a couple car batteries.