Water pump failed - 99 C2

I�m thankful, though. Because the sound it was making made me wonder if something inside the engine broke. I had been smelling some coolant, but my car always had a faint coolant smell. Today, it was making quite a racket, so I checked under the engine and saw some evidence. I then removed the airbox and took the serpentine belt off, and sure enough, the pump is a goner. Here�s a short video

Crap

Let's hope blades are intact and it's a non-event. My guess is your coolant smell is from a little hole in one of your pipes. I had the same thing for a year or two until Eurosport dropped the engine a couple of years ago for my refresh and found it. Never had a drip that hit the floor, just the sweet smell of coolant when the engine was hot.

By the way, when there is that much rust from "coolant," it's not coolant. You really need to use proper automotive coolant and not just water. It's bad for the engine.

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I'm not sure why it all looks rust brown around the pump. Perhaps someone more knowledgeable can chime in? Is the bearing internal or external to the coolant itself? I also see some oily substance hanging from one of the bolts. Is that a coincidence or part of the bearing failure? The coolant is fill is 50/50 (Genuine Porsche: 000-043-305-75-M100 3gal + 3gal distilled water), and that was done in October of 2018 as preventative maintenance. It looks to me like some of these hose clamps should be replaced with Porsche OEM rust-resistant metal, as I weekly drive this car in all seasons and have been for the last 7 years.

What should a water pump replacement as an Indy cost these days? I have seen posts from 2020 and 2022 indicated the cost ranges from $700-$1400, but those are pre-inflation prices. I'm going to call Midwest Eurosport and get a quote and might have them do it if it's $2k or less. That way, if I found missing impeller blades, I cannot easily back-flush the system.

Mike, I just had it done at Eurosport along with a few other items. Cost for the water pump was in that range. I'm looking for my bill now. Oem water pump isn't that expensive. It's the labor that throws it over the top.

It's coolant, then seal, then bearing, then air outside the engine. So, the failure mode normally is 1) the seal fails, 2) coolant leaks past the seal into the bearing and washes out the lubrication, 3) bearing fails and wobbles and makes noise, 4) meanwhile the coolant continues to leak out. That rust is leaking from inside the water pump past the pulley (from what I can see). So your 6-year old coolant no longer has any anti-corrosion property and the 50% water is reacting to the bearing ferrous material and is causing rust. Although I will say that I have not seen that much rust from a leaking waterpump. It's why you should replace the coolant on a regular schedule and never believe the life time coolant propaganda. As for cost of repairs. It's water pump + thermostat + 6 gallons of coolant. That should come to about $600 for parts. Add to that 2 hours of labor and you will get to about $1,000 if you say "no" to all the while in there stuff.

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I�m not sure about this bit. For the coolant to have used up all its corrosion inhibitors at 6 years means that something in the system is eating it, which would indicate a bigger problem. Maybe that rust is not rust, or it�s rust from somewhere else.

Doing the pump on my 996.2 also. Barely any play when moving the pulley, but there is some, to much. It also started to weep and have that sweet coolant scent, then few weeks latter a slow drip. Caught it before any bearing impeller noise started. IMO, unlike above poster suggested, first part of pump to fail is usually the bearing getting just a little normal' excess play/wear, letting the shaft seal surface have excess runnout, causing the seal to seep slightly giving that unmistakable sweet scent. Let it go longer, and that bearing runnout quickly turns to more runnout play, then a shaft seal leak. Let it go even more, then you get that bearing noise and or impeller vanes breaking off... Not sure what pump you have, but most all automotive water pumps have a mechanical seal, with a spring applying pressure to ceramic or graphite/silicon carbidesealing surfaces. Most good water pump seals do not only use a rubber lip type oil seal. So it doesn't take much play to cause a sweet smelling seep that is the harbinger of things to come... Mike, that rust you see is not from your 6 year old coolant, no way. Its from water/rain/carwash/etc, running down engine and hitting some bracket, bolts, clamps, etc, steel/iron/etc, component,, and causing that rusty look. Yes, the coolant is also leaking out of the shaft/weep hole and dripping right on those rusty spots making them look wet. The rusty water can't run up hill and stain your rubber hoses and other parts like in your pics. If the pump was leaking so badly it was spraying out coolant from all sides you'd see the spray pattern thats not there... A shaft/weep hole leak comes from the bottom of the pump under shaft, which looks like what you and I have. jmo

I would just add that "while you're in there" you may as well change out the 3 pulleys (tensioner and idlers) if they havent been changed. I wasnt aware that this was a recommended service item and hadn't changed mine until one seized up, taking the belt AND the water pump with it. Also I've changed the water pump on my own in the past, it's not that difficult but just make sure you properly burp the system of air.

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I mentioned this to the manager. He said he has done hundred of pumps, and hardly any tensioner/pulleys, but he said he will inspect. He agreed with the belt as well.

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Well, you nailed it. They found 2 pulleys that didn�t pass the sniff test. They also found two 25 yr-old hoses that were suspect, and the purge valve on top of the coolant expansion tank (which is newer), clips and stuff like that. Oh, and zero impeller blades missing on the pump.