redpathtribe

Thanks guys, I do feel EXTREMELY fortunate!

Jim, I'm actually going to screw that water pump to the wall in the garage and hang the timing belt on it as a reminder!!!

Roger, I'm figuring it was 50 caliber at least! Or may have even required a shoulder launcher!

Stan, you're right, I should have been able to see the coolant leak, but the power steering pump front seal was leaking so bad, all I really noticed was power steering fluid
And it was a FANTASTIC Easter gift!!!

redpathtribe

Most agree timing belts should last between 45-60k miles, although time is a factor as well. Water pumps should last at least that long or longer (If a factory new Porsche pump, or one of the new Laso's, NOT a rebuilt pump). It is common for some to change the water pump out when the timing belt is due. Others say if the pump is OK, not leaking, spinning freely with no bearing issues, then leave it alone and don't change it. It all depends on your comfort level and trust in the waterpump...

This will be the 5th water pump on my car. Original Porsche factory pump seized at about 60k miles on the original owner. Belt jumped, bent valves, original owner got it fixed at the dealer, then he traded the car in. I bought it from the dealer with 64k miles on it as a CPO car with 2 year warranty. Water pump the dealer installed must have been a Porsche rebuild because it went out before the 2 years was up (leaking badly). They must have put another "factory" rebuild in it, but this one lasted a bit longer until the impeller (plastic IIRC) came loose on the shaft and car began running hot. Replaced that pump with a new Laso with metal impeller(still looking for that receipt) that seized up back in September of last year. So this new Laso with plastic impeller is no. 5 with great hope of more longevity for this one!

Jadz928

Thanks for the clarification Roger. Fixed my earlier post. Was not my intent to start a rumor, was rather misunderstood.

So for the record, I'm replacing a 2 1/2 year old rebuilt WP, with a new Laso one.

Reasons for this is two-fold.
1. I read up and understand the design improvements done by Laso on their new WP. This gave me a high level of faith in the quality of the product.
2. Had lost faith in the quality of the product for the rebuilt WP upon seeing a rebuild WP fail in the field after short service.

We cool, Roger?

ROG100

Jim - way cool - just wanted to make sure that "Chinese Whispers" did not run riot in the WP World.

For further clarification the vast majority of WP failures were rebuilds or Chinese made “Hamburg Technic” units. Never seen a failure of the Hamburg Technic unit but after Greg disected one it was an accident waiting to happen.
Rebuilds of rebuilds without any consideration for fit and function being the main culprit. As the main company that rebuilds pumps also rebuilds the Porsche pumps the factory rebuilds fall into this category in my book.

We have two choices when it come to brand new WP’s - Laso & Porsche (MPG).
Both have records of failure although difficult to give as a % but in the 0.5% range from a couple of years ago.
Very very low volumes of Porsche new pumps are sold due to the $1000 price tag.

I am pro Laso due to the fact that they listened to the 928 community and changed their design to meet our recommendations.
The Porsche manufacturer MPG and the USA based rebuilder did not heed our information at all.

I am sure at some point we will see a failure of a Laso “new design” WP as well as the Porsche one, however the key here is to lengthen the MTBF to as long as possible.

The other choice is an “Engine Guardian”. A new one based on a Laso new WP with plastic impeller or a rebuilt one where Ed takes the time to fit a high quality seal cartridge as well as the rubber clutch.

OBehave

Wow that could have been nasty! Good save. That could never happen with the pumps that we rebuild and outfit with the Engine Guardian system. The coupler would have sheared under the load and stopped pumping.The car would certainly overheated but the belt would have stayed intact and prevented the belt from snapping and eventually crashing the valves.
Ed

Tony

OK. Now THAT is cool!

Bertrand Daoust

+ 928 0n Ed's (OBehave) pump.
Got one in my car and very happy with it.
Very well built system and a great service too!

Thanks Ed - and all other parts researchers/developers and suppliers - for providing better parts for our cars.

deutschmick

Nice save Rick!

Do you know how many years ago the WP and TB were replaced?

jheis

My 6 year old Laso seized solid at 36,000 miles about a year ago, so you can add one more to the failure rate stats.

Caused no harm - other than instant overheating - and gave no warning, but it sure made the back of the timing belt nice and shiny.

James

ROG100

James,
Was it a new one or a rebuilt one?
Roger

redpathtribe

Finally went hunting for and found the receipt on the Laso water pump that froze up and caused the near disaster. The Laso pump was replaced longer ago than I remembered, but had even less miles on it than I thought!

New Laso water pump with metal impeller installed 7-2-04, mileage 135,569.

So mileage on the Laso pump was almost exactly 30,000 miles when it froze up, but it was about 6 years and 3 months old if age has any affect.

A little more history FWIW... This Laso pump had approx. 8k miles on it when we tore down my motor at about 143,700 miles (not related to the water pump, head gasket went, then slippery slope to complete motor rebuild WYAIT!). So, it kind of made sense that we reused the water pump with only 8k miles on it. 22,000 miles on the "new" motor and it froze up.