Waterpump - OEM vs Aftermarket

[2drSE-i]

Yay, another boring waterpump discussion!

My question to 3geezers is this: What brand waterpump have you had success with? I am absolutely sick and tired of replacing my water pump every 6 months to a year, and have had no luck regardless of the brand. Lifetime warranties are great, but what good do they do you when you have to keep doing it?

I've tried a Duralast (Junk...), DriveWorks (Total crap...), and a GMB (Not as bad...)

I'm sick and tired of listening to bearings scream a few weeks after I spend an hour doing the same job. What are your recommendations? I'll go OEM if its truly necessary, but it's tough to justify $100 when you can get them for a fraction of the price on every corner.

[2oodoor]

Which pump are you getting, the cast impeller or the stamp steel impeller? Just curious. Too much belt tension will shorten the life, also the pulley bolts are supposed to have spacers, if the alignment is off that could affect the bearing too.
Valid points for conversation sake.

[2drSE-i]

pulley bolts have the shim, and belt tension is correct. I believe all three have had stamped impellers. I think a lot of the problem is that they have all been aluminum pumps

[zenapup]

I would either go with OEM (from Majestic it's only 61 plus shipping (the gasket is included, even though the diagram does not show this). or this part number from NAPA:1529182. I have this one and it has been about a year since I put it on. Could also be something other than the water pump squealing, remove the belt and see if it continues but don't run it long as it will heat up quickly without the water pump running, as well as discharge the battery.

[Dr_Snooz]

I just bought the cheapo one from O'Reilly. It sings to me every morning.

[2drSE-i]

I just bought the cheapo one from O'Reilly. It sings to me every morning.

I cant stand it! It works just fine but the noise is obnoxious...

[2drSE-i]

I would either go with OEM (from Majestic it's only 61 plus shipping (the gasket is included, even though the diagram does not show this). or this part number from NAPA:1529182. I have this one and it has been about a year since I put it on. Could also be something other than the water pump squealing, remove the belt and see if it continues but don't run it long as it will heat up quickly without the water pump running, as well as discharge the battery.

Its definitely the pump. I have a friend who works at advance, maybe ill have him order in all 3 they carry and hand pick the stupid thing. Im beginning to think majestic is the way to g8, however

[ecogabriel]

I have a GMB pump in the Camry; almost 60K on it and no problems. I got a NPW (supposedly made in Japan) for the 3G because I did not like the reman the previous owner had installed. The pump was the last thing in the cooling system I replaced after radiator and all the hoses.
I do have noises but I know come from the pulleys (either the water pump or the crank) I would say make sure it is the pump and not something else. I remember seeing AISIN pumps in Rockautoa while back; those are OE for Toyota so they should be good.
EDIT: Rockauto still stock them.

[2drSE-i]

I have a GMB pump in the Camry; almost 60K on it and no problems. I got a NPW (supposedly made in Japan) for the 3G because I did not like the reman the previous owner had installed. The pump was the last thing in the cooling system I replaced after radiator and all the hoses.
I do have noises but I know come from the pulleys (either the water pump or the crank) I would say make sure it is the pump and not something else. I remember seeing AISIN pumps in Rockautoa while back; those are OE for Toyota so they should be good.
EDIT: Rockauto still stock them.

Heck Rockauto stocks a Bosch pump too. Either of these should be great... I hope.

[ecogabriel]

The water pump the Camry had when I did the timing belt was AISIN (I still have it somewhere). No leaks or noises from it.
I replaced the water pump in my neighbor's 2002 Camry after 200K miles. There is no timing belt there (timing chain) so the pump was never replaced (she bought the car brand new).
It was AISIN brand and the only reason for replacement was just preventative. I installed another AISIN in her car.
The impeller is not cast but in both cases they were intact. NAPA sells the NPW (about $60 a piece)

[ecogabriel]

I just bought the cheapo one from O'Reilly. It sings to me every morning.

I am glad to hear the pump sings to you instead of yelling at you

[2oodoor]

I am glad to hear the pump sings to you instead of yelling at you

Yeah but what genre.. Blues, yodduling, dub step lol

[gyates93]

I know I'm bringing this one back from the dead but my aftermarket water pump just failed at 50,000km. Unacceptable, IMO. Just ordered a new OEM pump from Honda at a cost of 89 dollars. Totally worth it to not have to do this job again.

[Dr_Snooz]

NB: Most dealerships include replacement of the water pump in with a standard timing belt service. If you aren't replacing the water pump when you change your timing belt, you might want to start.

[gyates93]

New water pump is in, had to pry pretty hard on the timing belt cover to get it to fit under there. Is there a trick to tightening the alternator belt? Right now all I have is sore hands and a squealing belt.

[niles]

If the alternator tension adjuster is missing, I would just carefully stick a tire iron or long bar betweeen the block and alternator and pry. It doesn't take much tension and I have not damaged anything using this method. I have a tensioner now and it is easy to over-tension with the tensioner.

[rebuild]

I know I'm bringing this one back from the dead but my aftermarket water pump just failed at 50,000km. Unacceptable, IMO. Just ordered a new OEM pump from Honda at a cost of 89 dollars. Totally worth it to not have to do this job again.

I was pleased with my NAPA brand waterpump - lasted 127K and gave a month of warning to change it. My Honda one lasted 148K and failed fast, almost getting me stranded. I just swapped the NAPA one with another free NAPA one.

[Jafir]

I just bought the cheapo one from O'Reilly. It sings to me every morning.

Some of the honda pumps used to make noise on the older cars. They used to have this metal can of "water pump lubricant" that you were supposed to add if they were too noisy.

08798-9005

It was in a TSB for 90s accords and civics. I'm pretty sure it's NLA

[Dr_Snooz]

It's funny you bring this up. The waterpump doesn't make noise anymore for some strange reason. Maybe if it gets cold here ever again it will. We don't seem to have winters in California anymore.

[carotman]

I replace the water pump on my cars every 120 000 miles. There's no point in saving $40 to $60 on such milleage from getting an unknown brand vs an OEM pump. I know for sure the OEM pump WILL last the 120 000 miles.

The cost of replacing a pump earlier than expected exceeds the initial cost of the OEM pump.

If I had had a bad pump and was planning to sell the car, it would be a different story .

[DBMaster]

I pretty much learned once during my 355,000 miles to only use OEM. Some parts department guy claimed, years ago, that Honda had a patent on their bearing/seal design. I went with a NAPA pump once for convenience (and it was actually more expensive) and the bearing was failing sixteen months later. I bought only OEM pumps from Majestic and never had an issue.