Stan944

This is an open letter to our vendors, Pelican, Paragon and others:

I need a rebuild kit for the not-updated water pump for 1983 944.
I can't find this kit anywhere.

Why? First I thought for money reasons: there is more profit in selling
a rebuilt unit than the kit. But than I realized it's not that simple.
After all, you can buy both a rebuild kit for brake calipers and rebuilt calipers too.
You can even buy a rebuild kit for PS rack !
So what's special about the water pump kit?

Why would a vendor want to supply such kit?
If not only for immediate profit, than as a form of advertising: a customer
is often inclined to choose a vendor with the best selection, so he can
buy several items in one step. This certainly applies to me.

I picked the names of vendors above because they always provided excellent
service to me, but other vendors are welcome to jump in.

So if you represent a vendor, please reply. Even if you can't grant my wish.

Thanks, Stan

SamGrant951

"truly yours, your biggest fan, this is stan.."

89magic98

Would you need a shop press or some special equipment to remove/install the shaft and replace the bearings?

I would think that the ps pump / alternator / waterpump / and ac compressor would all have similar problems in the bearing assembly for the pulley. And (other than alternator brushes and seals) are there hime rebuild kits for any of these parts?

I think Zims sells a rebuilt waterpump w/o the updated belt guard.

Skip

Hi, Stan. I can't grant your wish, though I wish I could. Just replying as requested...

As my wife explains to me all the time; "you just can't fix everything yourself." (she's wrong, yes, but....) She goes on to bore me with notions that "marginal utility per dollar" is often exceeded when DIY'ing. A press is needed to seat bearings, seals and collars. Those who attempt to fix things with the wrong tools, though often with the right parts, may endure repeated failures. A waterpump is not a magic device, nor does it have NASA toilet-like tolerances. However, the rebuilt units are done right, cleaned properly and checked for true on the mating surface. I don't know the percentage, but many core-return pumps are useless once failing a quality check for useability. It is also known that rebuilt waterpumps do not generally last as long as new. Now add in that it was rebuilt at home under the supervision of drooling toddlers and domesticated animals, and you can see the laws of diminishing returns start to take effect. Many other popular DIY rebuilt items fail prematurely for various reasons that make them a great risk to sell on the retail market - things like steering racks, pumps and control arms come to mind. However, racks, pumps and arms are generally far more expensive to replace than a $115 waterpump (rebuilt). Further, since the waterpump installation is quite a chore that again requires time, vigilance and equipment, and more parts, we tend to be a bit more savvy about what quality parts go in there. Callbacks that start with "I just spent 8 friggin hours..." usually don't end with "...thinking about how great your company is."

Stan944

Well Skip, thanks for the answer, but it's not the answer I was hoping for...

I acknowledge negative impact of unsuccessful repairs on your business:
But, I certainly don't agree with the need of a press. Afterall, I was just suggested the bearings could be easily mounted by heating the pump. Besides, I used an F-clam or C-clamp (and a little creativity with blocks of wood, or old parts used as helper-tools) to mount a bearing or a seal, and it works fine.

I'd like to bring up to attention that as these cars are getting older, the fraction of DIY'ers increases, and we should have a saying what products should be available to purchase. Most of us , DYI'ers understand the risks of working on an older car, and do it for satisfaction mostly. Somtimes money is an issue too...
Taking the quote above to extreme, a vendor could refuse selling the timing belt, because the risk of damage to an interference-type engine is too high. I don't think resealing a water pump is that much different in terms of risk, but there are no problems with buying the timing belt.

Well, that's how I see it, but I understand that not everybody agrees with me.
Stan

Kirk at Zims

That's it right there. Well said Skip.

It's actually not the rebuilding - it's the not leaking, pulley staying on and running straight, moving the proper amount of coolant, etc. and standing behind it. That is the hard part.

Besides...
It is much easier to convince someone to spend $85.95 for a water pump than it is to troubleshoot what went wrong on their pump rebuild 1,000 miles away. Especially when the pump rebuild included a pulley falling off and the customer now needs valves, upper gasket set... We parts guys are an inherently lazy lot.

Just my .02,

Kirk

944Ecology

Damn, now you've gone and done it, our secret is out!!!

gb

:-)

Travis - sflraver

Put the pump on the bench and take it apart. See what wears out. Find replacement parts. Buy replacement parts. Install replacement parts.

You are the kit.... Be the kit. You must believe!!!

theedge

The first rule about the kit... You dont tell anyone about the kit.

Travis - sflraver

I couldn't help myself. I hope this is still on topic...

sm

fork_included

so where would one find individual replacement parts for diy water pump rebuilding particulary for a porsche...

Mike C.

Unless you are really stuck on originality of the car for concours purposes, why do you want to stick with the old style pump? The updated pump with the belt guard gives you some leeway if your cam belt tension loosens up for some reason. With the old pump the cam belt teeth going in opposing directions are so close that there is little margin of error with tension. I do agree that it would be nice to have the option to buy rebuild kits but I can also understand why vendors are reluctant to sell them. I did find a guy on e-bay who sells various bearings for alternator and starter rebuilds. Might be worth checking for the WP bearings if you can a number off them. I can't remember his store name but try searching on alternator rebuilds. Maybe you can get the seals at the dealer....

Porsche-O-Phile

The addition of the belt guard on early cars is addressed via a Porsche Technical Service Bulletin, so I believe it would still qualify you for concours authenticity to have this done. I have all the 944-related TSBs at home and can find the # for you later if you want it.

fork_included

its actualy funny that my car still has the original pump haha

but in reality if i was going to do it i would source a used pump first and then rebuild it

however it would seem that places like paragon or zims sell remanufactured units for like 125-80 bux

only thing is that the core charge as far as i know applies if the pump that i send them is the same as the one i get, so if i buy a remanufactured new pump i'm stuck with my old one..

plus if i do a rebuild myself if anything goes amiss atleast i'll be theonly one to blame.