Probable water pump failure, sanity check and parts advice

2007 Cayman base, 70k miles I've read a few water pump posts here and it seems it's happened to me. Low coolant light came on while driving, luckily just a couple blocks from home. I pull in and there's some coolant leaking underneath the engine. I removed the engine covers, jacked it up, removed the undertray and it looks to me like it may be coming from behind the pulley. I bought the car with 40k miles on it and I suspect it's the original pump. I've done some mechanical work before ( Acura timing belt change and valve adjustment, lots of oil/coolant/brake changes, etc.). I'm thinking about replacing the water pump myself after watching a couple videos and reading the Pelican Parts book. Can I get a quick sanity check? I'm attaching some pics here. A few questions - 1. Does it look like a water pump issue to you guys? 2. Would you replace all the hoses while you're in there? I'm surprised Pelican doesn't have a kit with all the hoses together as a single SKU. It seems like there are a lot in there. My hoses don't feel brand new but they return to their original shape easily when I squeeze them. These are the parts I plan to order: Pierburg OEM pump with composite impeller ($282): https://www.pelicanparts.com/More_Info/99710601106.htm?pn=997-106-011-06-M244&SVSVSI=987M Wahler low temperature thermostat ($50): https://www.pelicanparts.com/More_I...e_Info/996-106-013-59-M902&SuperCat=Y&SVSVSI=.htm?KeepHeader=&ByPassCat=Y&null= Am I missing anything? Thanks in advance! Frank

I bought the 160* thermostat also but its still in the box. My pump was leaking and I decided to just fix the problem at hand. I used clamps on the hoses so I did not lose that much coolant. That made the refill easy. Not much effort in getting the air out of a system that has not been fully drained. The torque spec is something like 8 Ft pounds on a few skimpy bolts, so you need the correct torque wrench . I do not know why it does not leak but it has been several months with no problems. Took about an hour to remove and an hour to replace and refill the system. Get a new serpentine belt while you are there. Just makes sense.

1. Looks like it could be. Not too many posts on here with failed hoses. You can check it by taking off the belt and checking the pulley for play. 2. Probably only need to replace the ones attached to the water pump if you do. Parts: What about a new belt and coolant? Check this thread too: http://www.planet-9.com/987-cayman-...boxster-service-and-tech/106046-advice-diyers-replacing-water-pump-weekend.html The actual RnR of the pump is no big deal. Heed the info in the link about the bolts and torque. Difficulty comes from 1) if the car is on a lift or stands etc. and trying to access the pump from behind the seats/below 2) dealing with the coolant

Last summer I was loosing coolant quite quickly on a long distance drive home. The shop replaced the water pump and several of the cooling lines as they were old and splitting. This is on a '05 BS. It took a couple of trips to the shop to identify all the lines that were leaking.

When mine was replaced the indy also suggested replacing all pulleys. Low cost insurance so why not.:cheers:

LN Engineering advises replacing the pump with a Porsche pump. My 987 went through two pumps while on CPO. There are so many hoses in a 987 it boggles the mind.

The metal water pump gasket that came with the pump had a dent on the rib that runs around the outside and the gasket wouldn't lay flat. Pelican sent me a replacement gasket (elring, made in germany) which didn't have any dents but it also appeared warped and wouldn't lay flat, especially once stretched onto the water pump bosses. Attaching pics here. Is this just how all the gaskets come or did I get two bad ones in a row? Thanks!

Sorry for the delay in my response, time is flying with work and waiting for replacement parts from Pelican . I also ordered an underdrive pulley kit through Pelican (Pedros, but came labeled Tuners Motorsports) that came with a shorter belt, smaller pulley, new bolt and thread locker. Thanks for the link to the thread. Also, the pump definitely had a bearing failure. The impeller and the pulley were sitting way off center, which made removing the top bolt difficult because the pulley was obstructing the flange of the bolt. I find it hard to understand why with all the great German engineering that they can't make a water pump that lasts the life of the engine, or at least more than 70k miles. It seems like a relatively simple problem compared to other parts of the engine that rotate under greater forces. Hopefully the underdrive pulley will help this one last a little longer. I'm glad I got the more expensive pump with the composite impeller. I didn't consider the damage that could be done to the aluminum block by a metal impeller with a bearing failure.

Still reading through all the threads I can find on how to do a proper drain/fill on the coolant. I didn't realize when I bought this car how involved the cooling system is - - expensive oem coolant - lots of hoses - general pain in the butt to get it flushed/refilled This is the first car I've owned or heard about where people tip the car in different directions to drain it, like it's a water bottle or something.