Tell them to come to the U.S. without insurance and then get sick. Let the fun times begin!

 

Since this post is back, has anybody done work on the 997.2 waterpump. Are the impeller designs different? Does it need the same maintenance as suggested by some 997.1 owners? Maybe we can discuss this more as 997.2 is now getting to 4 -5 years old

 

This is the best advice on this post so far! I agree with the 4 year interval and what is more so do the tech experts at Excellence Magazine, who I surely consider to be experts. There is a big tech article about the 996 and 997.1 water pump failure issues in the latest Excellence and I would highly recommend the read! To simply state that the folks on this forum only post problems is to minimize a very serious issue of the WP failure potential and the major damage it can cause as it starts to fail which is very difficult to notice by looking at the temp gage.

As far as the difference between the WP for the 997.1 vs 997.2 - don't know but for some reason the tech article on these cars specifically left the 997.2 out of the discussion and I am very curious as to why - obvious answer is that it was improved some how? That is something I'd love to know about however for many other reasons I would buy a 997.2 instead.....given the choice that is.

 

Sometimes i wonder why a 100k car needs a water pump replacement every 4 year while i have a 25 year old diesel mercedes running more than 300k kms on the original water pump. Well maybe because porsche experience with water cooling has only been about 15 years. With proper coolant maintenance water pumps shoukd not require replacment, in all cars, i would think, unless there is a defective design, which i think would be the case for water cooled porsche cars prior to 997.2.

 

There are late model Toyota Camrys with water pump problems as well. It can be alternate materials used for the impeller or the tension on the pulleys depending on belt and pulley arrangement.

http://editorial.autos.msn.com/15-used-cars-to-avoid#2

 

I wonder the same thing as well. I have not replaced water pumps as preventative maintenance on any of the other cars that I have owned nor have I had an issue with a water pump in the past and that includes cars I've owned with well over 100k miles.

For those that did have problems with a water pump then it was not common to replace it after it after it broke and not before. Yes, I know that the impellers are plastic and pieces could break off and lodge in the engine etc. causing major problems down the road and if this is the case then I would consider this a poor design if our cars are the only ones with this type of concern. Yes, I know that our Porsche cars have high performance engines that push the limits yada yada yada... but really, are the Porsche water pumps working that much harder than the water pumps in other cars such that they need more frequent replacement? It doesn't seem like a complicated device, it involves a bearing and an impeller it's surprising that someone can't come up with an aftermarket pump with a more durable impeller or bearing.

This sounds like a business opportunity for L/N engineering

 

Not trying to justify anything for Porsche but my prior M3 also used a plastic impeller. Similar known issue there as well. Like anything else I've owned... knowing the nature of the beast goes a long way in maintaining it properly over the long haul. I preemptively replaced the WP at ~52K miles and 3 yrs. Although the blades and pump looked fine... I plan on replacing the next one at 4 yrs or 40K miles. Fairly inexpensive DIY project($250) for peace of mind and insurance vs. the costly expensive of potential engine repair/replacement. FWIW, my 1992 4Runner is still running with all it's original parts except for the radiator, batteries, shocks, windshield, etc. But that's a tortoise vs. the hare comparison.

 

The hare needs more food than the tortoise. But the tortoise pulls a trailer, carries 7 people, has big feet, heavy duty all around and most of all so boring.. But still brings up the question why? And why of all parts the water pump. Tires i would understand, spark plugs i would too but water pump i still have difficulty trying to reason out.
Brothers im not saying we shouldn't do this. Just curious why porsche did not design this item better since it has such a crucial role for the engine.