Bruce In Philly

2009 C2S 169K miles

Well it finally happened.... my water pump is kaput. I can't complain, heck 169K miles on a water pump is fantastic. Just fabulous. My 1970 Buick Skylark I inherited from my mom ate pumps at about 25K per clip. Ball joints faster than that.

I have a shop manual.... it denotes to remove the engine carrier.... yikes. Any DIYs out there?.... I can find only one, Chicago Speed's post where it looks like he removed the carrier as he has the engine on a jack. I don't mind doing this but always looking for an alternative to such structural work.

Questions:
- I guess the big question is "do I have to remove the carrier?" Where are the DIYs?
- What does and dealer or indy charge for this?... no I am not considering it... I refuse!... but I do like to know what I am saving.
- Any direct comparisons to the Gebe vs Porsche-labeled pump?

I ordered a Porsche-labeled pump from Suncoast for $335. I really like buying OEM but I got gun shy on this important component and went Porsche. The word out there is that the Porsche pump is Gebe. However, I am finding there are differences.... the Gebe denotes a metal impeller and the Porsche unit is a "composite" impeller. If I got 197K miles on a Porsche part, and there is a difference with OEM, I am going Porsche. Another difference is the Porsche part's pulley is black anodized.. no big deal here.

Symptoms:
- Getting a chirp on cold startup... happened for about a week or two...
- Started smelling burning rubber.
- I ordered an OEM tensioner pully... only $20.... put it in and the old one I had about 30K miles on it... was fine. But I noticed the serpentine belt was worn on the edge to the cord !!!
- Now I am getting a higher-pitched squeal. comes and goes.
- I put my stethoscope on it and I can hear it turn ... sounds like a metal-on-metal wheel ... no grinding or rattling

Any help before I tear into this is appreciated.

BTW, I plan on removing my Sharkwerks cross pipe (my shop manual requires it).... I have set of new bolts and gaskets... I am concerned about exhaust leaks... the bolts are shot and scary looking..... and I want to inspect all of the welds. No I am not going to call the maker if there is.. I own this car now.

UPDATE: See EMC2's DIY where I added some details here: https://rennlist.com/forums/997-foru...ement-diy.html

Peace
Bruce in Philly

andino

Mine is a 7.1 but I'd recommend some exhaust clamp rtv after your WP install. I had to change mine out last month and I'm still chasing down an exhaust leak. Probably could have avoided a lot of trouble if I just used a bit of that exhaust clamp rtv stuff on the slip joints.

My symptoms were the similar as yours. Chirp on start up and burning rubber smell. I didn't have any belt issues but mine did make a racket on and off which was what prompted me to really dive into it to figure out what was wrong. Mine made what a sound like a spoon in a garbage disposal intermittently.

JVinPortland

Bruce,
We've all be nursing our water pumps along waiting for *your* DIY!!
Cheers,
JV

Wayne Smith

I'm looking forward to detailed photos and instructions that can become a stickie!!!

I recall someone proactively doing a .2 water pump on this Forum a year or so ago (my sense of time went away in 2020 so it may have been longer ago than that).

Good luck and per usual, report back.

EMC2

Bruce I have a bunch of photos but just haven't had a chance to write up the steps yet. Will try and get them together later tonight. It's really not a tough job (except for the thermostat - see below)

You also need to remove the thermostat housing bolts and pivot the housing to get the water pump out. Once that's done it's just as easy to lower the housing out from below.
Once you have the housing out it makes sense to replace the thermostat but this is a real #### of a job. Removing the thermostat is dead easy, but getting the new one in place is very tough to do and completely different to how it fits in a Cayenne or Panamera. You need to heat the housing to get it to expand enough so as to not damage the thermostat when installing because it is such a tight fit.

To get the extra clearance by loosening the engine carrier bolts is a similar process to doing engine mounts (in terms of supporting the engine). I did this too but found that with the right tools and adapters you can get to the bolts without needing to move the carrier much at all.

EDIT - link to DIY here -
https://rennlist.com/forums/997-foru...ement-diy.html

Bruce In Philly

Thanx, I am not going to do the thermostat... probably should but no. I will have questions!!!

Peace
Bruce in Philly

CAVU

What!? Do not tease us like that. The thermostat is calling out to you, "Bruce.........please do not ignore me. "

Also happened across this while thinking about which cooling system vacuum tool to buy. https://rennlist.com/forums/997-foru...ustration.html

OBTW, You're not the only one that got a 1970 Skylark hand me down. Mine was blue, white vinyl top with the 350 high compression engine. Valve job every 25-30k miles. Went through points about every other oil change.

andino

You may as well take care of the thermostat while you're in there as the labor overlaps. If you're on your original, it might be worth it too to replace so you don't need to open up the thermostat housing again and then purge the coolant system.

Wayne Smith

Well Bruce???

Bruce In Philly

Naw.... when I read I needed a torch.... apply a flame to this thing? Cripes with all the Dorito dust and what not, the thing could go up in flames!

Have you heard of any thermostat in these .2s going bad? Naw.... it ain't like the old days.

Peace
Bruce in Philly

BLU997

For the thermostat job:

See Hindsight2010's excellent sticky 997.2 HPFP DIY, he also does the thermostat seal job, including puting parts in the oven to thermally grow, it's very thorough with part numbers and great pics....

Bruce In Philly

Bloody 'Ell ! After reading that, no way am I going to do that thermostat. Sheesh. Thanx for the link!! That convinced me not to do it.

https://rennlist.com/forums/997-foru...el-pump-2.html

Peace
Bruce in Philly

sandwedge

That may be a record. I had the water pump on my -09 C4S fail at just over 40K miles. I can't give you any pointers as to how to replace it yourself since I had the dealership do it. What I can tell you though is that what you're experiencing sounds like a carbon copy of how mine failed except I didn't get any advance warnings like the ones you describe. It sounds like you won't continue to drive the car but if you are and your pump fails like mine did, be prepared to be stranded roadside at a moments notice.

My pump froze up with no advance warning signs or noises and trashed the serpentine belt too just for good measure. The coolant temperature rose VERY quickly so you won't have the luxury of choosing a convenient exit point. The dealer charged me about $1,100 as I recall it for replacing the pump and the belt. Parts and labor.

Petza914

The .1 pumps fail every 45-60k miles. The .2s don't seem to have a repeatable failure interval like this. At Brices 169k miles I'd be on my 4th .1 pump.

Now that I say this, the wife's car is now back in that mileage range and why I keep a spare in the parts cabinet. I figure with 2 997s of the same generation, one will need 1 eventually. Same reason I have a clutch kit there too. I keep an eye open for people who had parts and sold their car and end up buying new spares for a out 1/2 price.

Good luck with the refresh Bruce.

EMC2

@Bruce In Philly - don't leave us hanging how is it going?