Poor Chrysler water pump life

[KrisZ]

I'm not sure how it is with other Chrysler/Stellantis products, but the water pump on my 2015 Grand caravan was shot at 90k miles, the water pump bearing to be exact.
It was not leaking from the weep hole yet and it looked pristine inside. I have a trip to Canada that's coming up so I decided to change it instead of waiting for it to start leaking from the weep hole. And who knows if it would, but instead lock up? I didn't want to take that chance.

Here is the noise it made.

 

[KGMtech]

Reminds me of the leased Grand Caravan we had, it was a 2004. While under warranty, about 3 years old the WP started squealing and leaking when we were taking the youngest son to a ski club event. It was -37C when the WP decided this was too cold. So this problem is an old one.

 

[GMBoy]

You did good by replacing it now on your time.

 

[BillyHW]

Reminds me of the leased Grand Caravan we had, it was a 2004. While under warranty, about 3 years old the WP started squealing and leaking when we were taking the youngest son to a ski club event. It was -37C when the WP decided this was too cold. So this problem is an old one.

That's exactly the temperature at which factory 50/50 coolant starts to freeze. If I was a water pump, I wouldn't want to go skiing at -37 C either.

 

[atikovi]

Not sure I would consider 90,000 miles a short life for water pumps. I little noise isn't unusual but hard to tell from the video.

 

[LouC]

Yet when I had the radiator (started leaking) & water pump replaced in my 07 Jeep 5.7 Hemi the water pump really wasn’t worn out but since we were in there I wanted it all new on this old Jeep…
125,000 miles…

 

[supton]

Was it making noise and that's how you found it? curious.

Sounds bad to me but I have to wonder how many are like that, and worse, and yet manage to soldier on. But yeah, I would have replaced it, do it now in a nice warm garage--or pay someone else to do it, on less than savory terms?

 

[sloinker]

Probably would have went another 60k miles making noise. Who knows. Not sure how prevalent bad water pumps are on the Pentastar. Thermostats yes, oil coolers yes, rocker arms yes. Still a relatively long lasting motor and easy to repair for low dollars in comparison to other engines out there and their known problems. Timing chains in ecoboosts? New engines @100k in Subarus etc etc. Pick your poison.

 

[KGMtech]

That's exactly the temperature at which factory 50/50 coolant starts to freeze. If I was a water pump, I wouldn't want to go skiing at -37 C either.

Well the outdoor temp was -37C but the engine had been running for 90 minutes or so, I'd like to think the proximity of the WP to the warm engine might encourage sharing of the heat? ha ha. I remember this trip quite well because this was the coldest weather I had ever experienced. The kids were kept off the slopes until it warmed up to -20C, and at that my son didn't try to break speed records!

 

[KrisZ]

Was it making noise and that's how you found it? curious.

Sounds bad to me but I have to wonder how many are like that, and worse, and yet manage to soldier on. But yeah, I would have replaced it, do it now in a nice warm garage--or pay someone else to do it, on less than savory terms?

It started with the cold morning chirp and squeaking. So being close to 100k, I just changed the serpentine belt, the tensioner and idler pulleys. The chirp went away, but a slight groaning and squeaking remained. So then I used a stethoscope to listen around and the pump was making the noise. That got rid of the groaning.
Now that the pump is changed, I still have a squeak, that gets louder as the AC compressor kicks in, which I think/hope is the clutch bearing. I listened to the compressor and didn't hear anything abnormal.

Fun times

 

[hrv]

Not sure I would consider 90,000 miles a short life for water pumps. I little noise isn't unusual but hard to tell from the video.

I would... My 2007 Honda Accord had 386000 on the water pump before I traded it in....and previous Hondas when well over 180000 before needing one....

 

[Skippy722]

2011+ Durango’s and Grand Cherokee’s with the 5.7 were destroying them for awhile…they eventually extended the water pump warranty on 2013-2017 models to 7 years/unlimited miles but that didn’t help people like me with my 2011 when it failed at 56k miles or my buddy with his 2012 who went through 7 pumps in 250,000 miles… we joke he’s part of the reason they stopped offering the lifetime warranty.

And on the flip side, my parents 2004 Grand caravan still had the factory pump at 180k miles, the 2007 Caliber had its factory pump at 155k miles, my 2012 Caliber was still going solid at 130,000, and our 2018 Grand Caravan is still going strong at 105,000 *knock on wood*. It seems they had a rash of bad pumps in that ~2011-2017 range. The 3.6’s were doing a whole lot better, but occasionally one would still fail rather prematurely.

 

[atikovi]

I would... My 2007 Honda Accord had 386000 on the water pump before I traded it in....and previous Hondas when well over 180000 before needing one....

You're comparing Honda to Chrysler? That's rich.

 

[daves87rs]

Parents is still going on their van…….70k

 

[TimeFlies]

My employer has bought many Jeep/Dodge/Ram vehicles, with a variety of motors in them, that the employees drive, and not gently. 150,000 kms minimum, and up to 315,000 kms on some, like the Cherokee with V6 in it.
Only one has had the water pump replaced so far.

My personal vehicle has the Ford 5.0 motor, which has more water pump issues than most it seems.
Mine has 172,000 kms on it, and could need replacement anytime. So while I am a Ford fan, also know that they have issues just like every other brand does. If just a water pump goes out, that is a minor fix, and cheap to repair.
Changed one for the almost mother in law just last week.
Easy job, and inexpensive.

 

[JTK]

Good catch and I'm with you. I'd want to change it out as soon as practical.

You're average minivan owner would probably drive with that until the vehicle stopped going. How long that would take is anyone's guess.

 

[meep]

Pre-1980s, I saw plenty failing by 50k. Since the 90s, Subaru seemed to have such tight QC that the running consensus in the EJ22 was 106,000, and mine failed with just a hair over 106k on it. I’ve had 3 Volvos with 150k+ on original pumps, several Hondas at 200k, and even a Chrysler 3.8 with about 150k when we traded it with the original pump. Newer ones seem so much better.