Water pump question

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I plan on having my timing belt, water pump, etc. changed on my Volvo soon and was wondering if I should be concerned about the impeller blade material. Is a cast blade better than a stamped blade? Does it really matter?
 
For waterpump, I think the original part quality is the best, so it does not really matter if it is made by stamped or cast. The crucial part is the bearing and not the blade itself.
 
Went 140K on the original water pump which had a plastic impeller, no leaks. Replaced it with a metal impeller pump. This was on our sold 97 Jetta 2.0L.
 
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I'd avoid plastic impellers.
Metal ones very very rarely go out. And ones that do usually have had improper coolant which eroded them.
 
I had the timing belt and rollers changed out on my R car last year. I know the tech at the Volvo dealer and he said he would use his judgement for the water pump because he hardly ever sees them go bad. I just told him to replace whatever he thought needed to be done. He said that the pump was seeping a little so he just replaced it because he didn't want a come back. It was really reasonable too, around $700 for all new Volvo OE parts, plus he looked the whole vehicle over and fixed some little things a previous shop messed up and I didn't catch.
 
i used plate blades in the car brand i drive, some factory some aftermarket, for decades no trouble. just regulator, leaks, bearings.
 
This has got nuthin' to do with nuthin', but it still makes me laugh when I think about it. Maybe 7 years ago I asked an experienced Audi mechanic I frequented which water pumps he preferred, and I rattled off a couple German brand names. He responded "None of those," and then mentioned that he never had much luck with German water pumps for Audis, but instead preferred and had success with a couple ITALIAN brands of pumps. That's still impressively counter-intuitive, and perhaps even sacrilegious to the German-car crowd. Having owned an Alfa Romeo, my first response was "You’re kidding, right?", then followed by a good chuckle. But he was quite serious.
 
Plastic blades need to be avoided.
I would only use an OEM pump if I had a choice. Of course where I work, I end up with cheaply made pumps, usually from China.

There is one aftermarket pump company that is OK with me. GMB pumps are usually good.
 
Originally Posted By: artificialist
Plastic blades need to be avoided.
I would only use an OEM pump if I had a choice. Of course where I work, I end up with cheaply made pumps, usually from China.

There is one aftermarket pump company that is OK with me. GMB pumps are usually good.



GMB is actually one of the OE suppliers to the Asian market, maybe domestics too?
 
Originally Posted By: morris
i used plate blades in the car brand i drive, some factory some aftermarket, for decades no trouble. just regulator, leaks, bearings.


What the heck does this statement mean??
 
Originally Posted By: The_Eric
Originally Posted By: artificialist
Plastic blades need to be avoided.
I would only use an OEM pump if I had a choice. Of course where I work, I end up with cheaply made pumps, usually from China.

There is one aftermarket pump company that is OK with me. GMB pumps are usually good.



GMB is actually one of the OE suppliers to the Asian market, maybe domestics too?

I have used some of their pumps on small block Chevy engines.
 
Originally Posted By: artificialist
Originally Posted By: The_Eric
Originally Posted By: artificialist
Plastic blades need to be avoided.
I would only use an OEM pump if I had a choice. Of course where I work, I end up with cheaply made pumps, usually from China.

There is one aftermarket pump company that is OK with me. GMB pumps are usually good.



GMB is actually one of the OE suppliers to the Asian market, maybe domestics too?

I have used some of their pumps on small block Chevy engines.



Where have you found them for domestic applications?
 
Originally Posted By: The_Eric
Originally Posted By: artificialist
Originally Posted By: The_Eric
Originally Posted By: artificialist
Plastic blades need to be avoided.
I would only use an OEM pump if I had a choice. Of course where I work, I end up with cheaply made pumps, usually from China.

There is one aftermarket pump company that is OK with me. GMB pumps are usually good.



GMB is actually one of the OE suppliers to the Asian market, maybe domestics too?

I have used some of their pumps on small block Chevy engines.



Where have you found them for domestic applications?

I am not sure. I just end up with a part some salesman ordered from the cheapest store.
 
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