modern water pump lifespan

[Lark Parker]

In the gud ol daze a water pump would last about 80,000mi.

How long do the modern single belt engine water pumps last?
Your opinion welcome.

[Chicken Hawk]

My sister's pontiac only lasted 90,000. The one on our 2005 Impala is still going at 150,000+.

Ted

[sweetolbob]

I can't recall replacing a water pump on a daily driver in a couple of decades and most of my vehicles go well over 100,000 miles.

Oops!! Forgot that Toyota replaced the one on Judy's 2007 Prius eventhough she was not having issues so it was a recall.

Bob

[BobPalma]

Well over 100,000, Dale. 'Can't remember when I last replaced a water pump on any car under 100,000 miles...or even 150,000, for that matter.

However, when I got my 1964 Daytona sedan out for the summer, a distinct rumble under the hood reminded me why I bought a Studebaker V8 water pump at the spring York swap meet! BP

[stevo5671]

I have not replaced a water pump due to failure since I was in high school and the one went out on my 1979 Olds Cutlass. Currently have 187,000 in my 04 Pacifica, and had 167,000 on my 94 Jeep when I traded it in. I think I did have them replace the water pump on my 2000 Volvo at 150,000 when they did the timing belt since they had to take the water pump off anyway.

[gordr]

Yes, there has been a big change in water pump life spans. And in ease of replacement. There are few cars out there on which you can replace the water pump more easily than a Stude V8. Some are downright diabolical.

But on many modern cars, the water pump has become one of the wheels around which the timing belt goes. On them, you replace the water pump, whether it needs it or not, when you do a timing belt, because the labor to do the pump alone exceeds the labor to do the timing belt alone, inasmuch as the timing belt has to come off to do the water pump. On a car with an interference engine, the consequence of a failed water pump. or a failed timing belt can be a trashed engine. Shops won't do one without the other, because they could wind up eating a huge repair bill. If you are doing it yourself, you should probably bite the bullet and replace the water pump (and any idlers or tensioners!) when you do the timing belt, because the job is nasty enough that you only want to have to do it once. And the parts usually aren't too expensive; cheaper than a tow truck bill, at any rate.

[Charlie D]

Water pump went out on the ’02 Intrepid at 111,000. A few months later it started overheating. After a couple of years it got real bad. When the radiator shop rodded it out they found a hand full of aluminum shavings. After the radiator was cleaned it was one cool running car.

Charlie D.

[53commander]

I can't recall replacing a water pump on a daily driver in a couple of decades and most of my vehicles go well over 100,000 miles.

Oops!! Forgot that Toyota replaced the one on Judy's 2007 Prius eventhough she was not having issues so it was a recall.

Bob

The Prius water pump that was recalled is for the hybrid inverter not the engine. Its electric and made mostly of plastic so I dont think it counts.

[rockinhawk]

My wife's 98 Concorde went out at 135,000. But it is driven by the timing chain. That is one of the timing chains. It has 3. And 15 timing marks. We had to tear down the whole front end of the engine. Remove the main chain which let every thing jump to a neutral position. Which means everything had to be re-timed.

When we put it all back togather, we rotated the engine by hand to make sure all was well. It wasn't!
Each time we set the timing then rotated it, the timing would be off.

The Poor old Chrysler Sat for 3 mounths while I consulted with every expert I could find. Had the main Mopar man in this area come and check it out. It stumped him.

All this time The wife alternated driving her GT, Her very faded Avanti, or my Dodge truck.

Finally my son-in-law who is a Chevy Dealership mechanic said if we would leave him alone with the car for 4 hrs, he would figgure it out. Tuned out to be a damaged timing chain tensioner. We must have damaged the check valve in it upon disassembly. She has put another 30k on it since then with no cooling problems.

[Carl Purdy]

Studebaker water pumps is not the biggest problem it is the person putting on the belt is the biggest problem. You don't need a pry pole to tighten the belt. Pull the generator up by hand and tighten.The belt should just tight enough that don't slip if it does slip put some belt dressing on it.

[556063]

Water pumps are the weakest spot on the GM Atlas Engines in the Trailblazer/Envoy, Canyon/Colorado, and HUMMER H3's. My 2002 Trailblazer lost one at speed at 80K miles on Interstate 64 in Kentucky. That was out of warranty on that 3/36 plan. My 2009 Colorado started making a racket this April and leaking at about 85K and I took it to the dealer where it was quickly replaced without question under the 5/100 Powertrain coverage. Easy job if you have the fan puller tool. Only problem I've had with the engines in the 250K+ I've driven them.

My wife's 2001 PT Cruiser lost one at 130K or so. I thought I'd replace it myself over a weekend, until I found out where it was (buried under the front cover, driven by the timing belt). We ended up trading it off for a 2007 Town & Country (lemon) instead. And, it was the first PT Water Pump the dealership had replaced. Took THEM three days (THE reason my wife reluctantly let go of it)! Zero room to work under that hood. And, they couldn't get it back in time (sounds like the tensioner issue above).

All other modern vehicles I've owned made it to 130-150K+ without changing water pumps. Unless you count the 2007 Town & Country that we dumped at 78K.

The three replaced were due to bearing failure. One place GM and Daimler should have spent the extra 25 cents per car.

[JimsLeadCommander]

Dealer added A/C's can cause havoc to water pumps! In my case on the '67 Citroen DS-21 I was driving to Oregon from SoCal in 1970. AT Galt, CA the belts were squealing! A look showed the water pump pulley NOT moving! When the dealer added the A/C in these cars, part of the belt routing was on a double pulley added to the existing pump pulley. This put too much pressure on the pumps internal bearings (out of alignment forces). The pump was never designed with 'an extension' on the pully's end, so, even after it was replaced in Sacramento; the thing went out again roughly only two yrs later or about another 28K miles......I replaced that one myself -- took two days!!! What a horror story that was. Wanted to save some cash but, holy !!!! -- it wasn't worth the hassle!

[Corvanti]

couldn't tell you how many '64 to '82 sbc short block water pumps my dad &/or i replaced over the years - but i can't remember one that lasted 80K miles...

[bob40]

315K on the current Chvrolet Suburban(1992) and 302K on the old one(1989).Both still using the original water pumps.

[jackb]

today's Studebaker V8 water pumps w/o PS an/or AC should last the life of the owner.......since 90% of us will never put over 20K miles on our cars....Now w/ PS and/or AC especially.....even with the best of install.....I'd guess you'd change the pump at least once in that lifetime.....and if you install that cheapie belt.......