Water Pump replacement

[chuckddd]

I just had an intermittent overheating problem and went to a trusted mechanic for eval and repair. He called and told me the WP needed replacement and went through the 'plastic impeller" story...I agreed to the replacement and told him to save the pump. I picked the car up and asked for the pump and he brought it out...except it has a stainless impeller and the pump seemed in perfect shape. He just told me that when they replaced the pump and the thermostat the overheating stopped. My feeling all along was the thermostat. Is there a way to have the WP tested? I'm willing to ship it somewhere if it can be tested. I'm a bit ticked off and don't want to give up.

 

[selavia]

Trust me on this one...let it go. I learned that the hard way once; you do not want to get into a confrontation with a mechanic..........especially if the mechanic is a trusted one.

 

[CosmosBlack]

I would investigate and find out if the part indeed came out of your car, or he didn't replace it and just pulled one off his stash. You did mention he talked about plastic, then showed you a stainless...suspicious there.
Many times you think you could trust someone until...the day when he didn't hide his tail well enough. Anyway, that's me...I seek the truth and justice, some might just let it go and avoid the hassle and trouble. Good Luck, as long as you have peace of mind, do what you feel is right for you.

 

[Montana]

I would agree you might want to pick your battles on this one but certainly keep in mind next time you bring it in. If the impeller itself is fine, the pump is probably fine. Look at it this way...it's not uncommon for water pumps to fail every few years anyway. Usually the bearing starts knocking and you can see/hear an in and out wobble of the pulley as the bearing loosens up. So now you have no worries for a few more years. If it was a 10 year part I would be extra pissed but I'd maybe save it for the next bigger battle and chalk this one up to experience.

Even though it doesn't justify questionable ethics by mechanics, I always say to myself, "if you want something done right, do it yourself". Anything short of that you have to give up control and accept some risk.

Hey better yet, next time check wih the Board first so you can go in there fully armed next time! Nothing like free diagnosis and advice from overly-obsessed gear-heads!

 

[selavia]

Hey better yet, next time check wih the Board first so you can go in there fully armed next time! Nothing like free diagnosis and advice from overly-obsessed gear-heads!

This is the best advice! I've noticed when I go with my female friends to shady-shops the mechanics completely change their tone and don't rip them off too bad.

One guy actually charged my friend $800 to replace two tires and one oxygen sensor on 97 Sable. And the tires were not anything special; yokohamas I believe. Wow! That dude had some serious nuts!

 

[chuck540owner]

If your stainless steel pump fits a 95 540I send it to me and when mine goes bad I will test it for you. I get to keep it though.
And yes they will rip you off but most probably believe that they need to rip off the customer in order to stay in business. With insuranse cost out the roof, tools and equipment, labor, taxes, workmen comp.,health care, unemployment comp. and other overhead it is really hard to stay afloat. That's PA by the way.

 

[jrt67ss350]

Sounds like you got taken (or the mechanic just didn't know what he was doing). Water pump failures do not lead to intermittent overheating. While the plastic impeller story is true, many of them have been replaced with a newer part that has a steel impeller (looks like yours had already been replaced). Anyhow, if the pump had the plastic impeller and it had come apart, the car would have overheated very suddenly while driving and it wouldn't run without overheating - it would not be intermittent. For pumps that have steel impellers, the only way a pump can go "bad" is if the bearings wear out. As Montana pointed out, when the bearings wear out, the shaft will typically wobble and make noise when running. This extra shaft movement eventually results in excessive wear of the seals, causing coolant to leak out of the pump. That's the only way a steel impeller pump can fail.

Intermittent cooling problems are almost always thermostat related. Belt driven pumps should never be replaced for an intermittent cooling problem - it simply won't fix it. Whoever worked on your car just didn't diagnose the problem properly.

 

[chuckddd]

Yeah...he replaced the WP as well. I think I just got the job.....