Doing 30K service for 348, should I replace Water Pump?

Just passing along my experiance. I had 33000 miles on my 348 when I sold it and it still had the original pump. I change my coolant once a year and use water wetter also, this has to help preserve the seals. If you know the service history of your coolant that could help determine what you should do. Also do you have the original pump in car still? What mileage is on the existing pump? I was told at one time that if the cars were used on a regular basis the 348 pumps will last a long time. On the other hand for two hundred that is fairly cheap prevenitive maintanence, seems to reasonable to me. I think new ones are 1200. Hope that helps regards, Vern

 

you have a PM

 

It really depends on the condition of the bearings, and how many mile you have on the pump. I would look into getting a rebuild kit from the guy if he sells one. When I did my 30k I didn't do the water pump because the bearings were still good. I really depends on you. Most people change the pump because if it were to go bad after you did the major, you have to pull the engine again to change it. For me it isn't a big deal to pull the engine so I just left it. Oh yeah, and I don't have a lift to pull the engine. If it will make sleep better at night, then change it.

 

Yes. You've got three options:
1. Factory original waterpump replacing your existing one,
2. $200 rebuilt waterpump on eBay that uses better bearings and seals and has twice the warranty of the new Ferrari OEM replacement water pump, or
3. For some extra $$$ you can buy a rebuilt waterpump from Durable1.com (that also has better bearings and seals than the OEM) that has been ported...freeing up some substantial horsepower...especially if you also go with an underdrive (i.e. oversized) pulley.

So if you want some extra horsepower, pay the $$$ and reduce the drag on your engine via option 3 above. If you just want to insure that your waterpump doesn't freeze up and then break your timing belt (i.e. engine failure), then go with option 2. If you want safety *and* want to stay Original, then go with Option 1.

You can't go wrong for $200, though.

 

I somehow doubt that it's "substantial". I think the porting may help push more water through, but I doubt it gains you even 1 or 2 hp, which is hardly substantial, but please give me dyno numbers if you have them... I'd like to be pleasantly surprised! I don't see any number from Matt (Kermit) on that at his site. I don't think that's the reason to do it... it's for the water flow improvement, which certainly would be a good thing in itself.

 

That *would* be interesting to know, specifically.

What's our 348 waterpump doing, moving a bit more than 5 gallons of water/anti-freeze/water-wetter (8.3 pounds per gallon) for something like 42 pounds worth of total fluid, right? And this system itself is pressurized to a couple of atmospheres, I'd guess.

So how many horses are tied up moving our water/anti-freeze? We certainly can't gain more horsepower than that, even if we remove the waterpump entirely!

I'd swag that no more than 10 hp are tied up moving water, and you'd be hard-pressed to save 5 hp even with better bearings, porting, and an oversized (for an under-drive) pulley.

No, a better way to think about it would be in torque, not hp. If you save 5 lb/feet of torque, then you free up horsepower gains from idle all the way up to Wide Open Throttle...that's more than 5 hp...because a "5 hp gain" might only happen at the very top of your rpm limit...whereas this would happen all through the entire rpm range.

 

At that price, I think it's a no brainer, replace it, and sleep better!!. I have a bill paid by the PO for over a grand for a new pump.

 

"Warranty" on a rebuilt pump is irrelevant when the cost of failure is actually the labor to pull the engine twice.

 

If the motor is out I would put a new one on. The WP was the first thing to go on my car the day after I bought it. On my 308 it's easy and cheap to R&R ( I did it). Not so on your car. Play it safe.

 

I see you're in Alabama -- please check your Private Messages for one from me.

 

An experienced mechanic will check the condition of the bearing. If the bearing is good, there is little need to replace. While the pump is being inspected new seals can be installed. This is what my guy did.

 

IT is the labor, the mechanic is already in there so they say replace it. My attitude was inspect and if it seems fine leave it alone and the OEM WP is very robust and I did not r/r at my 30K repair and the OEM has been just fine for a few years now. If you have weping or noise or something then that is another story. Preventative r/r of a good working well maintained WP I think is overkill and not that big a risk, I took a calculated chance and so far so good.