Fw: Water pump replacement / longevity

[Stetina]

James,
Yes, really I do agree with you.  I guess my point was that at least in my
case the pump will work along time and if you are carefull, skillfull, and
probably a little lucky(!) the pump doesn't have to be changed.  I wouldn't
expect a regular mechanic to take the time to get this right.  Who can you
trust more than yourself ?  BTW when I did this the first time in 1993 I had
no idea that the pump would be a problem cause I was totally ignorant about
the issue.  I just did it_carefully_.

Here's an interesting point.  Very few cars drive there water pumps with the
timing belt. This makes them more reliable (and complicated) for obvious
reasons.  Did Audi design the system to only last as long as the belt ? I
don't think so.  The seal can be kept in good shape.  Our cars are
complicated and certainly have they're share of quirks.

old ford escorts (a "WORLD" car!) used to loose there water pumps routinely
a 40,000 miles.
Joel 87 5000TQ, 90 200TQwreck, 91 200TQA20v, 79 323i
----- Original Message -----
From: james accordino <ssgacc at yahoo.com>
To: Stetina <stetina at easy-pages.com>
Cc: audi list <quattro at audifans.com>
Sent: Thursday, August 24, 2000 7:20 PM
Subject: Re: Fw: Water pump replacement / longevity


>
> --- Stetina <stetina at easy-pages.com> wrote:
> > > One can't imagine that the actual "pump" is worn
> > out in 62,000 miles !  Is
> > > this an Audi or a Ford Excrement, ah excuse me, I
> > mean Escort.
>
> The pump is NOT worn out.  The idea is if the o-ring
> leaks 10 minutes after you start it (fully assembled)
> was it worth the $1.10 (what I pay at the local VW
> dealer) that I saved NOT replacing it?  Same arguement
> for the pump ($30-40).  If you PAID someone to do the
> work the arguement is even MORE valid.  I believe the
> German made pump or a Carter (lifetime warranty) pump
> could conceivably last 500k miles.  The unknowns are
> what quality or change intervals on the coolant.  What
> belt tension was applied if it has been changed
> previously?  (Monkey lad overtightening=leaking front
> seal)  BTW, I replaced the WP in my Dorf truck 7+
> years and almost 200k miles ago with a NEW Carter
> lifetime warranty.  Super quality.  The casting,
> machine work, and the alloy itself made it look like
> artwork compared to the OEM or POS rebuilt.  I guess
> you DO get what you pay for.  Not arguing your point,
> rather pointing out another way of looking at it.
>
> My $.02
> Jim Accordino