how long can a water pump last?

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Originally Posted By: chevyboy14
Well if it weeps it is bad correct?


Slight weeping is normal on some vehicles. There wasn't a lot of weeping with Chev small blocks, though, for instance. Generally, you're not going to see a catastrophic failure. You'll have leakage and bearing noise, first.
 
Doing a friend's saturn 1.9 water pump today. Been leaking progressively worse for months now.

They don't just fail leaking, the impellers can bust loose or slowly disappear and become ineffective.
 
1996 Chevy Lumina with 75K I just replaced the OEM w/p and it was easy, especially for a FWD car. It was sitting on top front of the V6 and you replace the impeller , not the housing, so it is very straight forward. And a Brand New pump from AZ was only 20.00. Now the Thermostat is a whole different story. It is the FWD nightmare you would expect.
 
On a '94 Saturn SL1, I changed what I'm fairly sure was the original pump at 173,000. The lifetime warranty replacement from Advance lasted 22,000. My '01 Silverado started leaking at around 80,000. My other pumps have lasted somewhere between those two figures. Not that they can't fail immediately, but mine have always started leaking progressively more from the weep hole.
 
Japanese cars usually get great life out of the pump, but only if you use the non-silicate coolant. My parents learned the hard way that just because Honda and Mitsu coolant is green in color does not mean it is the same green stuff sold in Advance Auto.

Many American cars get good life from their pumps too, they weren't the ones who dyed coolant in such ways. Green was green, orange was orange, up until recently.

There is another factor in water pump life. This destroys many of the more recent ones. Some pumps have a plastic impeller that will have a blade fail. The engine will overheat, but coolant will not leak out of the water pump, causing confusion. VW cars are the worst for this.
 
I'm running original water pumps that are over 50 years old in some cases. Many water pumps have a weep-hole that can give some warning of seal failure. Proper belt tension and changing your coolant go a long way to extending pump life.
 
I had two 1992 S-10s. One had the 4.3 and one had the 2.5. Both of the water pumps failed at around 80k miles.
 
The iron duke lol I miss those. Yea mine doesn't weep that I know of its got dexcool on it apparently that stuff is easier on water pump.......
 
I think 80k miles is a good average for waterpump life. Seems like a good many of them blow out by 100-120k miles but sometimes they just leak slowly and about the only clue is a slowly dropping coolant level.
 
longest- subaru 2.2l 106,000. back then, 106,000 was an eerily consistent life for these.

shortest- short block chevy 75,000 (but it had a lot of years on it)

v6 acura- very slight weep at 86,000, 1 cup per week. replaced.

i hear the 3.3 - 3.8 chrysler minivan pumps can get 150,000. That will outlast the transmission!!

I'll agre with above poster. Once you're passing 80k on an oem pump, anything goes...

M
 
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I changed my original pump on my 96 SL2 at around 145,000 miles and almost 15 years old. It just started to leak a steady stream one day with very little notice.

I honestly recommend changing it soon, get a GMB from AA, they are cheap and good. The pump is easy to change maybe minus the dumb pulley bolts.
 
I think my OEM water pump had about 132K on it when I changed it back in February. It wasn't leaking, but it did have some odd bad bearing-type noise and it had some wobble/play in the shaft so I replaced it. I used a Duralast water pump from AZ, it has been doing fine since then.
 
Originally Posted By: mechanicx
I think 80k miles is a good average for waterpump life. Seems like a good many of them blow out by 100-120k miles but sometimes they just leak slowly and about the only clue is a slowly dropping coolant level.


On my 99 SL2 water pump leaked like crazy at 110,000. I just had it replaced again at 190,000 due to bearing noise.
 
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