I hit 60k miles today, so I drove to local dealership (no appointment) and just asked one of the veteran techs if I could pick his brain for a minute, he said sure. I asked him if he thought I should replace my water pump even tough I haven't seen any signs of trouble. (I am knocking on wood right now). He said "absolutely not!". He said it with charisma! He said he rarely sees water pumps fail in 997s and certainly would never replace one that's working fine.

Crazy. I've read so many posts about water pump failures. Maybe there's a huge silent majority of long-lasting water pumps? Or maybe this tech is just wrong. Anyway, just another data point to consider.

 

I would not worry. You can visually inspect how the water pump looks from the outside. I just purchased my car with 41k miles, and the water pump started leaking out of the pulley 2 days later.

They can go bad at any time.

 

My water pump exploded hideously at 60,300 miles. snapped the pulley off, shredded the belt everywhere etc.

no warning, not a single external leak before it, it just let go.

get it changed when you can.

 

My 997.2 has 86,000 miles with the original water pump.

 

When a leaky front radiator required cooling system service at 72K miles I had mine changed proactively. Coming from a long history of BMWs, I have learned to do do water pumps as a part of preventive maintenance.

 

Mine went at 55k. I can understand waiting if you have to pay dealer pricing but if you can do it yourself I'd do it proactive.

 

This is what keeps me up at night-- no warning that would give me time to replace it, just an expensive failure. As a preventative measure, it's about a $1k cost, which isn't really worth the risk of what you just described. That said, I know that for certain issues the board postings can scare you into being paranoid. From what I've read, however, the water pump sounds like it's worth replacing at around 60k miles even with no signs of trouble.

So, add $1k to the 60k service!

 

Mine recently turned 60K also, but my water pump went a couple years back. Didn't explode, just started leaking. My extended warranty paid for it, but I now regret having taken it to the dealer who used OEM instead of an indie who would have put in a better-designed aftermarket pump.

Pretty much any failure issue I've ever asked at the dealer's about, I got the response that "we almost never see that". Maybe it's because as the cars get older, less people take them to the dealer for service. Or maybe management tells their people to say that, so as not to make the product look unreliable. Idk.

Since you're in Delray, if you want an honest opinion and/or replacement with better-than-OEM parts that might actually last the rest of the car's life, at substantially lower cost than the dealer, talk to Kevin at KMW in E. Boca or Bobby at Foreign Affairs in W Pompano.

 

I would say the tech's response is another example of forum hearsay and paranoia.

I'd say this tech sees far more 997's than the average forum user.

 

Thanks Ben. I'll try KMW because I'd love to find a great local shop for routine maintenance. Champion Motorsport (not the dealer) has been excellent for regular service (in addition to mods) but they're in Pompano so a bit of an inconvenience because no loaner offered. Thanks.

 

Yeah. I'm a porsche mechanic myself, so for me it's 3 hundred odd bucks for a pump and then just my own time, and I like to think that I take pretty good care and keep a close eye on my car, this one made a noise about 20 mins before it blew. That was it, all in the same drive.

Couldn't be sure I got all the debris out either, so I've got another pump lined up for Christmas so I can see if anything is impacting the impeller now and do another good flush through the system so make sure it's good.

Going to do the third radiator, and low temp thermostat because it's hot here in Texas, But I'd never ever ever use anything other than the oem pump, the plastic impeller is a live saver (block saver). And I'd rather just change them out ever 40k and not risk it.

 

Rem-- You're a Porsche mechanic? Terrififc, great to have your input, many thanks. What do you mean by the plastic impeller being a life saver? Thanks.

 

The logic is that the plastic impeller is the softest part of system, so while I does get eaten over time by heat cycling and wear, when failures like mine happen (seized bearing) the play in the shaft ground the Impellor against the machined housing and the plastic just broke apart and acted like a lubricant to stop the shaft destroying the mating surface on the case.

People argue that a metal Impellor will last much longer without failure, but if I had a metal one when my bearing went then I'm sure I would have had some work to do to clean it all up again.

For severe duty, like on a track car, I probably would run an aftermarket metal deal. And just keep an eye on bearing free play when I pulled the belts off after every event.

 

Thanks!

 

As a fellow tech, I completely agree with the plastic impeller being a much wiser idea from the factory (for once).
I've never seen plastic versions just fail from being plastic. There is almost always excessive play in the bearing which allows the belt tension to slowly pull the pulley upwards until the angle finally causes a leak or the bearing locks completely. While this is happening, the impellers may start to contact inner housing causing them to break away. But, they are almost always intact when pumps are replaced for bearing failure.

Also, as a dealer tech, I disagree with 997.1 pumps not failing. We see them regularly enough, and mine failed at 35k. Known issue and being proactive can save you from a more drastic failure, while not leaving you stranded and/or dumping coolant until you possibly overheat the car. Problem is, every car is different, driven differently, and in different climates. Needs to be done sooner or later no matter which route you choose. And always replace the thermostat at the same time.