Water pump and timing belt questions.....Whats good?

[dsmfergie]

First off I will say hello as this is my first post. I have just recently bought a 93 talon tsi 5spd awd. I have been doing alot of recreational maintenance due to the previous owners lack of a brain. Anyhow, the timing belt has some "checks" on the smooth side. I assume from a bad idler pulley.

The big question is, is the gates water pump any good? I would assume there is a reason for the almost $150 difference that there must be a huge quality difference between oem and gates. I have searched the site for the water pump question and i have found a couple things but not a lot. I mainly just don't want to buy something and have it shell out on me later on down the road when it could have been prevented by me not being a cheapo.

I found a kit that includes a timing belt, pulleys, tensioner and a new water pump for about $280. This is the best price i have found but i will continue looking for better deals if they are quality parts.

Thank you very much!

[bryanwheat]

The gates water pumps are decent. I would get the gmb pump from rockauto.com. You can also get the gates timing kit from rockauto which has both belts, and all 3 pullies for around 70 bucks.

[dsmfergie]

Nice, thank you for the quick reply! I also forgot to mention that it is swapped to a 6 bolt and has supposedly had the balance shafts removed.

[DSMReviver]

I would go with OEM timing belt, they are just as good as top dollars one.

John too was using oem belt.

Drag/Standing mile project

[iugrad92turbo]

I used a auto store water pump works fine for many over 10 years of dsms, and a autostore timing belts, and now oem one, but never had one fail, of course i keep my cars maintained and change everything timing related when needed.

[dsmfergie]

Cool, thanks for the recommendation on RockAuto! That was more than $100 cheaper for all gates equipment.

And thank you guys for the advice. I do want quality parts but unfortunately i have to practically do a restoration on this car due to the previous owner. Before the timing parts i already have $500 into brake parts and a turbo and other little misc items. I love the car already and can't wait till it is a sound driving car. I would love to put oem parts on it(i strongly believe they are superior part as far as longevity goes) but as much as i am doing to this dsm i really wanna save some pennies here and there. Good thing its a toy / 2nd car!

Also, is there any particular brands i want to stay as far away as possible from?