Need to change water pump

[JeanDSM]

I was cleaning my car today and i found a small colant leak under the timing belt area of my car. So now i need to change my water pump but need your opinions

This summer or no later than next chritsmas i will be doing a 6 bolt swap to my gst and i dont want to buy everything with oil and water pump and timing belt related parts OEM cus then i will have to do it again in les than a year to a non daily driven car. My car has 50K miles on these stuff,

What do you guys think about replacing to a non oem pump and still using the other old parts just a few months away from my 6 bolt swap?

maybe buying the timing belt also? and still using the old tensioners?
Im kind of broke , and if i buy alll these parts new my 6 bolt forged project will have to wait until summer 2008 and my new turbo setup (450hp) is 2 days old.

 

[Cs4g63]

I am just going to address the water pump because the parts store I work at sells them and I feel comfortable giving advice about that part. If you dont want to buy the OEM one so you can save money I would seriously suggest buying an Airtex water pump. They have a lifetime warranty on them. You can take them to any parts store that sells Airtex and get it warrantied because that is the way Airtex has their warranty policy set up. So you dont have to worry about buying it and it going out in a couple of months and being screwed having to pay for another one. Besides all of that they are a very good company and sell quality products.

 

[JeanDSM]

thanks , how much dos it cost (estimate) and can i found it on pepboys, autozone, western auto?
Im in Puerto Rico

 

[Cs4g63]

I would have to get back to you on that tomorrow after I get to work. To many parts to remember the pricing. I believe Carquest carries them. I will find out for sure tomorrow on who carries them also.

 

[JeanDSM]

thanks for your help!!!
now is it ok to only replace the pump or is the belt a must?

 

[AndrewD5418]

I would replace the timing belt and balance shaft belt while I'm at it. How many miles? Maybe your pully's need to be changed aswell?

 

[FORMONTOYA]

I would agree that you should just go ahead and replace the timing belt, auto tensioner, and balance belt (if you still have it). With 50K on the components you're reaching the end of their life cycle (TB job every 60K). Even though you stated you would be swapping out the motor soon, a lot of times things get away from us or take longer to start (or finish for that matter) and it would definitely suck to go in there, remove the items to gain access to the water pump, put the old parts back on and have a belt snap destroying the good head that you have now. This could force you to make decisions that you didn't want to make.

my 0.02, but that's your call.

 

[Cs4g63]

Ok the Airtex water pump should cost around $50 to $60. And places like Autozone or Pep Boys should carry them.

 

[JeanDSM]

I would replace the timing belt and balance shaft belt while I'm at it. How many miles? Maybe your pully's need to be changed aswell?

do you mean the water pump pulley???
why?

 

[oldman]

do you mean the water pump pulley???
why?

No, water pump pulley comes with the new pump, he's talking about the tensioner and idler pulley, pretty much part of a timing belt job.

 

[steve]

No, water pump pulley comes with the new pump.

You reuse the water pump pulley. It's solid metal and the only thing you have to do with it is remember to mark which side faces out so you get it back on the right way or the belts will rub and come off when it's wet out.

Steve

 

[oldman]

You reuse the water pump pulley.

Yea yea I know, for some reason I had a picture of the alternator in my head during my posting.

 

[steve]

I think the alternator hit your head.

 

[oldman]

That would explain the mark on my forehead.

 

[romeen]

I am having a coolant leak from the exact same area as the op. My 6 bolt swap was done approx. 7K miles ago and I'm fairly certain a new t-belt was put on. When doing the water pump do you guys think it's ok to reuse the same t-belt as long as it looks healthy?

 

[oldman]

I am having a coolant leak from the exact same area as the op. My 6 bolt swap was done approx. 7K miles ago and I'm fairly certain a new t-belt was put on. When doing the water pump do you guys think it's ok to reuse the same t-belt as long as it looks healthy?

That all depends on how "fairly certain" you are and you should be more concern about the auto tensioner.

 

[Cs4g63]

Its cheap enough to assure everything is good and have the peace of mind. I would replace them since you are going to be in there anyways.

 

[FORMONTOYA]

Since you're going in there anyway, an extra couple hundred dollars now could save many times more later on if "fairly certain" proves to be "not good enough".