9A1 100,000 Kms (60k miles) Water Pump, Belts and tensioner and more condition

it has been a few months of hunting down increasingly worrying sounds coming from various parts of the car. some intermittent, some there in the form of pulsing, tapping or grinding. thankfully with a good tech from a local indy, managed to get the source of the sounds traced to the water pump, belt tensioners. thought I would share some pictures of the items to show the likely wear from the items. As you can see from the pictures, the water pump impeller is already cracked and probably getting ready to shed some plastic pieces. the bearing on water pump was worn and rough (caused rough idle and drag on the belts). The belt, pulley are worn and due for replacement. the tensioner (looks like a small absorber) was also contributing to the noise as it was leaking (in the pictures, it has been cleaned) and causing additional noise. now I know some would subscribe to the if it aint broken don't fix it theory....but water pumps are generally wear and tear. if its plastic it cracks/breaks, if its metal it rusts and/or wears down. wash it all down with fresh coolant. in summary: 1. if your car is making strange noises, start diagnosis in the area behind the driver 2. you don't have to wait for your water pump to leak/seize before changing it, several other symptoms like age, noise 3. consider changing all these associated parts as a set since they're all accessible from behind the seats at one go

Some pics from the latest service - changed the PDK transmission filter. Reasonably clean - I change the fluids every 30k kms in this tropical heat. A new filter - there are 2 magnets located at the 2 o'clock and 7 o'clock positions to grab any loose particles. the kit should come with a new integrated gasket and a set of new mounting bolts. Also 3 of the coil packs had cracks - no misfires yet - but decided to change all 6 for peace of mind. Definitely get them inspected for sure.

I haven't done the coils (and plugs) - yet - I'm just at 60,000 miles. I'm planning plugs/coils at 80,000 miles. Everything else - done, plus a new AOS since I was in the area. Amazing how much quieter the engine is with a new belt, water pump, pulley, and tensioner. I just changed the clutch-oil in the PDK , filter isn't called for until 112K miles.

Hi Don, if the coils are still holding up then I guess no harm. I was trying to see how long they could last too...based on the feedback and the preventative maintenance thread and age of replacements it seemed the time was coming soon.... I would normally request the techs to inspect plugs and coils - usually every service as it got older. I'm assuming heat cycles and age contribute more than mileage at this stage. yes, you are right - the belt, pump, pulley and tensioner remove much of the "what on earth is that noise?" sounds and probably will fix about 1/2 of noise complaints for the 987 😅 the transmission filter - i think once every 10 years is ok. YMMV

I suspect the coil failures are primarily hours of use and the engine temps. I finally replaced the ones in my '11 Cayenne Turbo at around 90,000 miles (plugs on it are a 30k item - so I'd looked at them last at 60k and they were fine) - and saw the tell-tale cracks. No misfires reported, but I replaced all 8 (and obviously the plugs) at that time. No difference in how the car runs - it always has run well. It may also depend a bit on how worn the plugs are - worn plugs require more current to fire, so the coil in the plug will run hotter, expanding a bit more - which could cause the coil cracking. Best thing I think - if there are symptoms (misfires) just plan on replacing all of it - coils and plugs.

Great tips Thanks to the gurus here in the forum, bro!

Will be changing my coil packs at the next service. They havent been changed for at least 5 years and I;m not sure before that. @eye... you change your PDK fluids every 30k as well?

Hi all, As a new member of this forum, maybe a short introduction before commenting and asking questions. I recently purchased a brother (or a sister) for my modified 996 turbo and more active on other P-car forums. The spec for me was to find a basic 2,9 987.2 i.e port injected 9A1 and when I found a decent one with good history I did it (actually the history is a bit strange as it's been owned by Porsche factory in Zuffenhausen for two first years 2009-11 and 1st registration in 2011. I don't know the details why/how/what). OK, I've done my own service plan which is a bit more frequent than official and plan for preventive actions. Car has now approx 73k km / 45 k miles and good to prepare for water pump replacement. Good posting from @eyeofthetiger ! There's also plenty of good articles and looking PET gives also good idea. However want to confirm from you guys who have replaced the pump. No need / not even possible to block/fold water hoses with pliers to prevent massive draining of coolant when replacing pump (not pump housing)? For the pump itself, 987.2 9A1 has OEM pump 9A110604800 while 981 9A1 uses pump 9A110604802. I assume the later one is improved and recommended to be used when replacing? Well planned is half done...

I haven't done the replacement yet (60K miles on current pump). I bought a new one and belt just to have when needed. I was planning on clamping the hose to reduce the coolant loss, but also have about 3 gallons of Porsche coolant ready. The last 2 digits of the part number indicate revisions. That could mean an engineering change, but could also mean the part is sourced from a different supplier. So it isn't necessarily an improvement.

I run in high temp situations and I dont have a 3rd radiator. Yes, works out to be about once every 2 years depending on how much I drive.

For the water pump, there are different part numbers for the different impeller designs and different OEM brands. I wouldn't be too concerned about the numbers being revised upwards. Some also come without the pulley do check the description of the item. There are a lot of shared components on the cars - a quick check on 9A110604802 shows it fits 987 and 981 models (as well as 997 and 991 models). I replaced the coolant when the water pump was changed.

Thanks for the comments. I will get either 9A110604802 or 9A110604800, whichever is available (depending where / when buy pump). I checked Rosepassion where I buy a lot of OEM parts that they've discontinued the 00 part and replaced with 02. Same price. So that's OK. Let's see if I end up changing coolant too. Looks like in 9A1 there's hard pipes connected to WP housing thus clamping the hoses is not feasible. Depending how much coolant drains when opening pump, I change coolant when replacing pump or then later. I have Facom 935A vacuum cooling system filler, I'm using in 911 when changing coolant and bleeding system. PDK clutch fluid is changed, brake system flushed properly, next in the list is gearbox oil change. Just need to buy a 20 liter can of Mobil PTX 75W90, they are not selling in smaller cans. It's the only gear oil, I'm using in Porsche (after very expensive transmission rebuild in 996 turbo ) and recommended by Porsche . Luckily the same gear oil for Boxster and 911 .

There's metal pipes under the plastic undercarriage shields (supply & return to radiators) but a flexible hose connects wp to supply line (981.106.501.01). So you can at least clamp the hose that connects the wp to the radiator supply tube.

Jyrki - there are some rubber hoses that plug into the engine and waterpump. These use O rings on a metal ring to seal the hose to the engine. I'd suggest getting new O-rings. It's easy to overlook that when ordering parts (DAMHIK, I just do..)

Good, thanks for a hint. I believe O-rings are: 99970758940, 31 x 3 O-ring. Good to think of all possible (and impossible) OEM parts, not only for WP and then do one order... Rosepassion in France is a good place to buy OEM parts but unfortunately they don't have any Black Friday etc. discounts.

I did today proper a cleaning and washing of radiators and other stuff behind bumper (of spoiler as Porsche calls it). I must stress how important this is for water cooled Porsche mid/rear engined cars. I do this for my 996 turbo annually (it's too often but I want to check all is OK after driving season / track days). For my Boxster I'm planning to do this bi annually and see if that's OK cadence.

Another data point. 2010 Cayman S with 88k miles. The expansion tank starting leaking at the seam. My mechanic suggested that even though it seemed fine, now would be a good time to replace the original water pump. As expected the old pump was fine (the bearing feels fine and has no play). Edit: Just to clarify I did have the water pump and thermostat replaced as my mechanic suggested. "As expected the old pump was fine (the bearing feels fine and has no play)." was referencing the state of the original water pump after it was removed.

If you are going to keep the car for a while, I would replace the water pump and thermostat. It’s better to replace these proactively.

Hi If all coil packs of my 001.1 3.4 C2 looks new and no cracks and the car has no misfire car done 136K but cannot be sure wether the coils packs have been changed from prevous owner spark plugs changed 40K miles ago, they all look great only brown grey and no oil traces please help to comment thanks

I'm not certain what you want us to comment on. You don't know the history of the coil packs. If you're OCD you'll replace them just because you want to know they're good and probably will go 60,000 miles without a failure. The other option is to ignore them until (if) one fails. That can be expensive and annoying depending on where it fails.