Water pump rant
Thread Starter
Three Wheelin'
Joined: Oct 2003
Posts: 1,315
Likes: 0
From: Sacramento, CA
Water pump rant
Holy crap! When the service manual states that one WP bolt is difficult to remove even with the special tool they aren't kidding. No I don't have the special tool but do have a comprehensive set of tools, and had basically what was needed so sayeth the factory. What a pain in the butt.
One of those deals where you wish you had hands the size of a ten year old and wicked contortionist skills.
The water pump failed the worst i've ever seen. It almost entirely seized up when spun with modest pressure against the pulley. Lots of play in the bearing.
I had heard a funny "sound" while going through a drive-thru in the morning on the way to work that was a slight chirp sound but very intermittent. That night on the way home a guy at a light says your car is steaming and leaking coolant. I look at the gauge and all is normal. Fortunately I was only a couple blocks from home.
The plastic impeller lost edges of its teeth. The new WP has a metal impeller. Hopefully it will last lots of miles as it is a pain in the butt to change. Worse than the AOS with the tranny out in my opinion.
Time for a
Cheers,
One of those deals where you wish you had hands the size of a ten year old and wicked contortionist skills.
The water pump failed the worst i've ever seen. It almost entirely seized up when spun with modest pressure against the pulley. Lots of play in the bearing.
I had heard a funny "sound" while going through a drive-thru in the morning on the way to work that was a slight chirp sound but very intermittent. That night on the way home a guy at a light says your car is steaming and leaking coolant. I look at the gauge and all is normal. Fortunately I was only a couple blocks from home.
The plastic impeller lost edges of its teeth. The new WP has a metal impeller. Hopefully it will last lots of miles as it is a pain in the butt to change. Worse than the AOS with the tranny out in my opinion.
Time for a
Cheers,
Drifting
Joined: Jul 2005
Posts: 2,481
Likes: 1
From: Prince George's County, MD
How long did it take you to complete the repair? Also, that's not a bad choice in color and car that you have there.
Holy crap! When the service manual states that one WP bolt is difficult to remove even with the special tool they aren't kidding. No I don't have the special tool but do have a comprehensive set of tools, and had basically what was needed so sayeth the factory. What a pain in the butt.
One of those deals where you wish you had hands the size of a ten year old and wicked contortionist skills.
The water pump failed the worst i've ever seen. It almost entirely seized up when spun with modest pressure against the pulley. Lots of play in the bearing.
I had heard a funny "sound" while going through a drive-thru in the morning on the way to work that was a slight chirp sound but very intermittent. That night on the way home a guy at a light says your car is steaming and leaking coolant. I look at the gauge and all is normal. Fortunately I was only a couple blocks from home.
The plastic impeller lost edges of its teeth. The new WP has a metal impeller. Hopefully it will last lots of miles as it is a pain in the butt to change. Worse than the AOS with the tranny out in my opinion.
Time for a
Cheers,
One of those deals where you wish you had hands the size of a ten year old and wicked contortionist skills.
The water pump failed the worst i've ever seen. It almost entirely seized up when spun with modest pressure against the pulley. Lots of play in the bearing.
I had heard a funny "sound" while going through a drive-thru in the morning on the way to work that was a slight chirp sound but very intermittent. That night on the way home a guy at a light says your car is steaming and leaking coolant. I look at the gauge and all is normal. Fortunately I was only a couple blocks from home.
The plastic impeller lost edges of its teeth. The new WP has a metal impeller. Hopefully it will last lots of miles as it is a pain in the butt to change. Worse than the AOS with the tranny out in my opinion.
Time for a
Cheers,
Drifting
Joined: Sep 2008
Posts: 3,049
Likes: 2
From: Cary NC
Too bad about the failure, but sounds like you are back to spec.
Year, model, mileage, service history? Where did you source the new WP? OEM? Did you ever see any overheating problems or any indications there was ever a problem?
Year, model, mileage, service history? Where did you source the new WP? OEM? Did you ever see any overheating problems or any indications there was ever a problem?
Thread Starter
Three Wheelin'
Joined: Oct 2003
Posts: 1,315
Likes: 0
From: Sacramento, CA
Washington DC Porsche, It took about two and a half hours total time. I could do it now in about half that time now that I know what combination of tools to use to get that bastard bolt out. That and taking my time as I'm kinda training my 16 year old a bit in DIY auto repairs. Thanks for the compliment on my car.
Whitey, my car is a '99 C2 Cab. 105498 miles. I just bought the car a couple months ago. It was a repo auction so no service history other than a bill the bank had to pay to get it to pass smog and get a new key made for it. The work included four new 02 sensors, new mass air flow meter, spark plugs and some adjustments.
I checked my local Porsche dealer on the pump and it was $345. I was able to find the same exact upgraded pump on ebay for $106 + $18 shipping. As I have been moving my shop this last several weeks and not really able to drive the 911 much anyway, I went that route. Absolutely no over heating issues at all before the failure. Even during some unseasonal 100+ temps right before it failed.
The only precursor to the failure was a weird chirp once in a while about a day to two days before failure. The sound was so intermittent I wasn't even sure it was my car or maybe someone else at a light. Only noticed it with the top down.Did hear a clicking sound the morning of the day of the failure that sounded just slightly louder than a lifter than wasn't pressurizing fully. Again could only hear it with the top down and parked next to the drive-up window at McDonald's. That sound has gone away with the new pump. I'll take some photos of the pump and post them up tonight as I left my camera at the new shop location and will be spending most of today in the old shop finishing up some cleaning chores. Moving sucks!
Whitey, my car is a '99 C2 Cab. 105498 miles. I just bought the car a couple months ago. It was a repo auction so no service history other than a bill the bank had to pay to get it to pass smog and get a new key made for it. The work included four new 02 sensors, new mass air flow meter, spark plugs and some adjustments.
I checked my local Porsche dealer on the pump and it was $345. I was able to find the same exact upgraded pump on ebay for $106 + $18 shipping. As I have been moving my shop this last several weeks and not really able to drive the 911 much anyway, I went that route. Absolutely no over heating issues at all before the failure. Even during some unseasonal 100+ temps right before it failed.
The only precursor to the failure was a weird chirp once in a while about a day to two days before failure. The sound was so intermittent I wasn't even sure it was my car or maybe someone else at a light. Only noticed it with the top down.Did hear a clicking sound the morning of the day of the failure that sounded just slightly louder than a lifter than wasn't pressurizing fully. Again could only hear it with the top down and parked next to the drive-up window at McDonald's. That sound has gone away with the new pump. I'll take some photos of the pump and post them up tonight as I left my camera at the new shop location and will be spending most of today in the old shop finishing up some cleaning chores. Moving sucks!
