Alternators and water pump

I have the world's best water pump story. About 45 years ago, I was working in a Sears garage. After my shift, I was walking out to the employee parking area. I happened to walk past a car juss as a fellow employee was starting it and heard a very distinctive "twannnggggg" as the engine reved up. I motion for her to shut it off and I popped the hood (I still had my mechanic work clothes on). I grab the fan and gave it a wiggle and then I walked over to her window and said, "You need a new water pump." The look on her face was priceless !!

Again, the major decision issue is: relative cost of PM (IF, repeat IF) radiator and CAC out) vs breakdown maintenance later.

If radiator and CAC in place or if side radiator, I would not do it now.

How long a component lasts is almost a side issue, as labor far exceeds parts cost if a rear radiator configuration with failed water pump, etc.

92 E350. Replaced water pump last year ... not positive but alternator probably is original. Just got the rig out of the shop after new brakes installed.

My '47 Olds has original water pump but only 45,000 miles.
My excursion V10 has original water pump with 191,000 miles
Having said that, they will both fail this weekend.

My E-450 has 130,000 miles on it. OEM alternator and OEM water pump. I did replace the serpentine belt.

romore wrote:
Don't worry about it. They do fail but usually give plenty of warning, the alternator will start to howl or the water pump will start leaking from the weep hole. Of course if you hook up the battery(s)all the smoke will escape the alternator but that will be obvious fairly quickly.

Well,
Not in our case. The water pump on our C-7 didn't give any warning at at all. Our coach is an '04 Itasca Horizon 36GD with the CAT C-7 330H P and it presently has just under 84,000 miles on it. At about 83,000, I was about to do some major maintenance on that engine. That is, fan bearing, belts, hoses and clamps, thermostats (CAT calls those "Regulators") and a few other things while I was in there.

Well, as I pulled the coach out to get the floor nice and clean since I knew I was gonna be on that floor for some of the work, I noticed a rather large puddle on the floor. Hmmmmm, not good. So, I cleaned the floor and pulled the coach back in and went to work.

Well, really long story short, it was the water pump. It had developed about a 1/2" of in-out play on the shaft. That water pump and or engine, had not leaked a drop of ANYTHING, for over 83,000 miles. Yet, sitting in our RV garage, it leaked.

So, I had ZERO warning on that pump going out. If I'd have seen that same puddle a zillion miles from home, that would have been a bad situation. The pump cost me $90.00 + $15 in shipping. That was one heck of a deal since C-7 water pumps, in all the searching I did, were ranging from $250-$350. So, "warning" on some of these items, well maybe and maybe not.
Scott

captpar wrote:
This is a continuation of a topic from another forum. How old are your alternator and water pump? Mine are 11 years old and going strong, do I preemptive change them out or just continue as is. Wondering who has the oldest.

If you continue to think like this, YOU may fail before any of the components you worry about.

Use your gauges. Look around under the hood and under the vehicle on a regular schedule. Look for low fluid levels and fluid leaks, listen for unusual sounds, pay attention to unusual vibrations, smells, etc. Hope for the best and have a good time. That's about all you can do.

Chum lee

E150 approaching 21 years old. Original alternator and water pump. A/C compressor gave up the ghost last year.

Don't worry about it. They do fail but usually give plenty of warning, the alternator will start to howl or the water pump will start leaking from the weep hole. Of course if you hook up the battery(s)backwards all the smoke will escape the alternator but that will be obvious fairly quickly.

Much of the answer depends on LABOR. If a rear radiator, it would be much less $$ to preemptively do it when the radiator and CAC are out.

If side radiator and/or rear radiator is not removed, I would not do it without symptoms.