Hello everyone.

Time to replace the water pump (92 XJ6 4.0). Original with 150K miles started leaking, go figure

At any rate, I'm seeing a lot of different brands with wildly varying prices. I mean, Autozone has a Bosh with a lifetime guarantee for $269, ebay has a GMB brand for $68.98, also a Parts Master for $73.48, there is anew factory OEM for $369, and finally Rockauto has a PRONTO brand for $35.00 !!!!

Obviously I'm a bit leery on the $35 pump, and I recognize the original OEM would probably be the most reliable, but I just spent $400 on a brake accumulator and wallet is still recovering.

Does anyone have any recommendations or experiences to share with their water pump project?

Much appreciated.

 

Palmero,

I have not had to replace mine yet.... but when I do... I will buy OEM spec'd pump. This component will run all the time, every time you start the car. Not worth skimping on this one.

My two cents...

 

Hi Rob,

Thanks for your reply.

Problem is, they all claim to be built to "original specifications". A pump that does not fit will immediately be noticeable (e.g. pulley out of alignment, leaks where it connects to the engine block, etc.) What is not evident is the quality of the seal or bearings. These may not be built to factory tolerances and fail much earlier than expected. In fact, I've seen what a broken shaft can do when the pulley and fan come off at high speed (not pretty).

The only way to make sure I get the best possible quality would be to cough up the nearly $400 they want for a new original.

I was just reaching out to other members to see if anyone had recent experience with their water pump replacement project. I'm a little surprised there aren't that many posts on this subject.

Best regards.

 

there are a couple of options, you could consider.
in october 2010, the water pump on my car failed, right at arrival to a wedding. i replaced it with a good, secondhand unit, at £35 and nearly 3 years later, its still good!

another option is to fix your current one. strictly speaking, a water pump can`t fail, at least not to the point its useless. only two things can and do fail on a water pump. one is the impellor blades breaking, but thats mainly on cars with modern plastic ones and two, as i suspect is the case with yours, is the pulley seal. if you remove the fan belt from the water pump, grab the pulley on the pump and `rock` it, from top to bottom, similar to how you test a wheel bearing. if the pulley moves/rocks, then the seal has gone, BUT, these can be replaced and in fact, are still available at around £22 ($15+). the only problem with replacing them is, that you need a bench press to press them in, but most auto garages would probably do this, for a drink or very small fee!!

 

sorry, meant to include link to where you can buy a new seal;

http://http://www.jagspares.co.uk/Ma...imageField.y=7

part number - EBC3131