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Discussion summary
YOUR RESEARCHWater Pump Impeller Pieces Missing... HELP
Leading reported evidence
Adjust compressor
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Suggestion
Adjust your compressor to pressurize to about 50 psi.
Leading evidence: 'Adjust compressor' (no explicit attributable resolution; this is a reported action or suggestion). Across 1 matching discussions, the most frequently mentioned possible cause is 'good idea carl' (1 discussions; 0 report identifying it and 1 suggest it). The most frequently discussed action is 'Adjust compressor' (1 discussions). For that action, 0 discussions report a resolution and 0 report an unsuccessful attempt. No action has an explicit, attributable resolution report under the current rules. These are forum reports and suggestions, not a confirmed diagnosis.
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Suspected cause
That's probably a good idea Carl, because if the cheesy Chinese brass bearing/bushing goes the steel impeller will damage your engine case...After all the work you've done, that would be a bummer...
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Suggestion
Sometimes reading this forum is like checking symptoms on WebMD; every single search or thread leads to a cancer diagnosis.
Disconnect almost all major components of the cooling system
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Suggestion
It would seem you need to disconnect almost all major components of the cooling system to do it right.
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Suggestion
With that said and to get the best results, how about disconnecting the radiator hose from 1st radiator, doing the reverse flush to clean out rads and portions of pathway from that direction.
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Suggestion
With that said and to get the best results, how about disconnecting the radiator hose from 1st radiator, doing the reverse flush to clean out rads and portions of pathway from that direction.
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Suggestion
With the new recommendations that the water pumps are a service item and should be replaced every 60k I figured that this pump is so affordable that I just may replace it every at other oil change 😉
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Suggestion
With the new recommendations that the water pumps are a service item and should be replaced every 60k I figured that this pump is so affordable that I just may replace it every at other oil change 😉
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good idea carl
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Suspected cause
That's probably a good idea Carl, because if the cheesy Chinese brass bearing/bushing goes the steel impeller will damage your engine case...After all the work you've done, that would be a bummer...
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31 eligible posts · 0 unverified posts · 1 discussions match the subject in their title or opening post.
Rennlist: 1 discussions
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Generation: 20261026T172408Z · outcome-qualification-6. Deterministic extraction; no AI model inference. How we use sources
Need to make sure I get all these plastic bits out of my coolant. I'm in the process of flushing right now. I have the UView 550000.. how can I make sure everything is cleaned out. Lemme know thanks
Old vs New
Old pump missing plastic on ends
New Pump
I did see a small amount of debris sitting where the water pump went. I don't think its everything though. Didn't see anything in the old thermostat housing. Would a"reverse flush" be considered what you did in your post? Adding 10psi of air to the coolant reservoir to blow the coolant out of the radiators? Want to be as careful as possible and do everything I can to make sure no debris is floating in the engine... Let me know you thoughts Thanks
should I make something from lowes to run a garden hose through the hose coming from the thermostat to push the coolant backward through the coolant system in hopes to push out any tiny pieces of plastic from the broken impeller?
garden hose going to hose that came off the thermostat.
Someone else made this and I'm planning on doing something similar.
I will be very careful.. is this the correct way to do it though? Water through the hose that attaches to the thermostat housing? Both the thermostat and water pump are still off the car
This should be the right way to flush the radiators because you are just reversing the flow. However, I'm not sure how effective it will be for the heads because with this setup when the water returns from the radiators, it will flow into the front console (oil pump housing) and bypassing the heads.
Not sure if there's an easy way to force the water to go through the head downward (normal flow is upward).
I won't be making anything worse by doing the reverse flush right? It looks like the old impeller was being grind off the edges, not large chucks off a once.. I don't know if this is a better or worse scenario. Just got the car one month ago week last week I noticed coolant on the ground.. wondering if I should just sell it. Sad because this car is awesome but damn on 51k miles and this happens?
First I want to say I know nothing about this issue or how and where the coolant flows through the motor. With that said and to get the best results, how about disconnecting the radiator hose from 1st radiator, doing the reverse flush to clean out rads and portions of pathway from that direction. Then do a flush through the water pump to flush the opposite direction out the end of rad hose disconnected. Just a thought.
I would take each rad out, and have them backflushed by a shop with the right tools and tank(or just replace the rads). Then, remove the hoses to and from the heater core, and back flush that with a hose attachment in the car.
The engine back flush and the long pipes to the rads are next and done separate. It would seem you need to disconnect almost all major components of the cooling system to do it right. I would not back flush the whole system because you might dislodge something from the rads or heater core, and stuff it somewhere in the engine passage. Try to do each section separate, and clear out the engine by itself. Best to hope for.
Don't sell it (you'll lose money) if you love the car. Looks like you caught it early enough...
I like the above idea, but I know nothing about these engines.
Keep us posted and good luck!
I feel I have flushed the car out best as possible. Would filling the system up with distilled water running the car until fully warm at idle and then flushing.. and doing this 3 or 4 times be the best way to try and get everything out? seems mine didn't break in large pieces but very small ones...
For anyone who is in this situation in the future.. It has been over a year now since I replaced my water pump and noticed it was missing these impeller pieces. I install and new water pump and have put a couple thousand more miles on the car and still no issues. Car runs amazing... despite all the people online saying what a catastrophic issue this could be and scaring the crap out of me... I will say that I spent a lot of time trying to flush out the coolant system. Never actually found the missing pieces though. Just flush out the system the best you can. Good Luck.
Use a vacuum "Airlift" tool if you have it. Instead of hooking up the compressor to create a vacuum, hook it up to create pressure instead. Then wth the correct adaptor coupled to the lid on the overflow reservoir, let your compressor blow air into the system. Adjust your compressor to pressurize to about 50 psi. Tihs way it is safe and won't bust your cooling system. Use a catch pan under where the coolant tank resides because there will be a gush of coolant + all the debris coming out of it. Just make sure you leave the only opening from where the water pump was and close all the other drains. Then there will only be one outlet coming out of the system where the fans broke because you don't want to push any other debris deeper to other areas within the system other than where the water pump location is. The Uview Airlift tool is almost mandatory if you want to pressurize / vacuum / bleed, any Porsche cooling systems.
Listen to Mr. Negative Nancy over here. I'm pretty sure if those pieces were going to cause an issue they would have by now. I don't baby the car by any means. I've never been on any other forum in my life that is as negative as the members on this one. I absolutely love this car and the way everyone talks about the 996 makes them out to be a ticking time bomb. Thanks for the input! I ain't scared!!!!! I'll be sure to update every year as long as I own the car.
Glad your car is running good and you're not letting the Debbie Downers get the best of you! Sometimes reading this forum is like checking symptoms on WebMD; every single search or thread leads to a cancer diagnosis. The difference is here not only are you told you've got cancer, but you're told it's your fault and you're dumb for getting yourself into this situation.
These plastic impeller water pumps are one of VAGs worst ideas. Now they have a huge stake in Porsche too. When replacing them in VW Audi�s, just get all of it out you can, replace, refill and drive. The pump in these photos was actually in great shape compared to many. In my limited experience they usually fail completely but the large chunks stay close to the pump.
I took a plunge and purchased a cheap Chinese water pump for my 99 996. $33.99 on eBay! It came with a gasket and has steel impellers. With the new recommendations that the water pumps are a service item and should be replaced every 60k I figured that this pump is so affordable that I just may replace it every at other oil change 😉
That's probably a good idea Carl, because if the cheesy Chinese brass bearing/bushing goes the steel impeller will damage your engine case...After all the work you've done, that would be a bummer... Debbie Downer, over and out!
The missing pieces usually jam deep inside a cylinder head capillary. You will typically not be able to remove these without disassembly, and sometimes even then it's very tough.
Out simply, you have to find all the pieces, before they find your wallet.
Some people may take the truth as "scaring the crap out of them", but I share what I see, exactly how I see it. Some people may be luckier than others, and the debris that's missing gets jammed in a non critical area, where it never causes a problem. That can change in an instant when that bit decides to work loose, and then it moves to a critical area. That can take days, months, weeks, or years, or may never happen.
For a long time people didn't;t know what created cracks in these heads when the engines had never overheated. Once I started sharing a video in my classes of milling a crack from a cylinder head, only to find a water pump impeller inside the head, under that crack, did people start spreading this word.
I don't sell water pumps, so remember, the only person that stands a chance of benefitting from you NOT changing the water pump, or not fetching all the debris would be me. That's what occurs when the planets align, and you end up with an intermix issue that comes out of no where, and local shops chase the issue, swapping heat exchangers, and etc till hey finally tell you that "you have a bad head gasket".. Nope, no you don't.
