[Biturbos4] Water Pump Quality

[Andrew Lundy]

I've found that getting OE (Audi) parts is good for anything that rotates.
Be it a idler roller, a tensioner, or a water pump. The other item that
I've had issues with are thermostats. I've had huge problems with
aftermarket thermostats so I don't skimp on those, and they suck to get at
on a 2.7 so it's not worth the hassle to save a few bucks.

OEM (aftermarket) tend to go out a little sooner. I've lost a few water
pumps around 50k myself, while others have had worse luck. Same general
timing on serp tensioners and others. In my experience the OEM's run fine
they just have a tendancy to wear out a bit sooner than OE.

But again that is just in general. All parts can fail early even OE. I had
an Audi fuel pump die after 15 minutes and I was not happy. But I took that
as freak chance. Removing that one instance, I've had no other early
failures with OE parts. The same is not true with OEM.

So what is left to buy OEM? Belt, gaskets, housings, some control arms,
etc. Items like that are fine from the aftermarket, IME.

When I'm trying to stretch a dollar and trying to pick. I look at the
consequence of failure and the ease of access to the part. When in doubt I
go OE, it is generally worth the premium.

And for those wondering. Audi sent me a second new fuel pump, no questions
asked. Aside from a tow and some aggrevation, I wasn't out much. The second
one has worked as expected.

YMMV

Andrew
On Jan 21, 2016 3:14 PM, "Grant Lenahan" <glenahan at vfemail.net> wrote:

> I’ll add some traffic :-)
>
> I need to do the TB job on my (sorry) 2002 S6 4.2 V8.
>
> I want, obviously to use the highest quality parts, since they are
> critical - both hard to do and can lead to catastrophe.
>
> On the one hand i have a good supplier to the trade offering me generally
> well regarded aftermarket units (HEPU), while a bud helping me insists that
> 4-rings is the only way to go.
>
> Any serious BTDT experience?
>
> Grant
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