EMC2

Hi All
I'll be putting together DIY's and threads from the multiple recent preventative maintenance projects I completed. To start with, here is a video showing the difference between the 2 OEM water pumps.

I'm glad I changed out the water pump. It was clearly making some noise and not spinning very freely. Interestingly this pump was more noisy than the one I pulled from my 957 Cayenne with over 150k miles.

slowslowcar

Thanks for sharing

voiceprint1

were you noticing excessive noise when running or other issues?

sandwedge

I can give you the assessment of the failure on my -09 C4S. No noise or any other warning of any kind. It just crapped at just over 40K miles and trashed the serpentine belt along with it. I was more than lucky sitting near the entrance to a large gas station so was able to get away from traffic and shut down in about a minute. With a total failure like this I don't think you have a whole lot of time beyond that before the coolant temperature gets out of hand. I could see it rising at a fairly good clip as I was shutting down.

Imagine having a failure like this sitting in the center lane in bumper to bumper traffic that's barely moving. You'll have no choice but to shut down, block the lane you're in and then count the shaking fists and whatever else comes your way.

pascalemod

Thanks for taking the time to do this. Do share the detailed step by step, I think all will be happy with these. 997.2 has like all these fun BMW-style issues with HPFP and Water Pump, so I feel like with 8 BMWs I owned this is pretty familiar backdrop to used car ownership.

BLU997

These pumps look expensive, but someone at a factory poked bearings and seals into it, just wondering if it can be pressed apart and new bearings and seals pressed in.

Petza914

Nice. For sure, that one was ready for replacement. Aside from the rotational noise, could you feel any wobble in the front pulley. Once there's any play at all in the bearing, the eneion on the belt clocks the shaft and causes the seal to fail. That's usually the case of the first coolant drops that are seen out of the weep hole (if the 997.2 pump has a weep hole).

EMC2

Thanks @Slowcar

@voiceprint1 - I could definitely hear what I would describe as a "scraping" noise when running (but so minor that it was at the level you would only notice if you really know the sounds of your car well and can therefore detect subtle changes over time)
This prompted me to use the stethoscope on mine, and then also on a neighbors 997.2 with lower miles for comparison. Mine was definitely louder.

Sorry to hear about your failure @sandwedge I know what you mean. I had the famous water distributor neck failure on my 957 Cayenne S. Luckily I was in a spot where I could pull into a parking to immediately and shut off, but it's always scary when that red light comes on.

Thanks @pascalemod . Will do.

@BLU997 Genuine OEM can be sourced for around $300 which is really not too bad.

@Petza914 Thanks - the play was very minimal in comparison with the noise. I definitely did not have any drips (and in retrospect, because I tackled so many projects over that weekend, I did not even look to see if there is a weep hole - although I don't recall seeing one. You've got me curious so I'll have to go back and look