Engine water pump

[Sundowners]

Hi this wasn't our motorhome but it could have been-----
Two of our cars have had cambelt changes fairly recently----well not so recently both were SUPPOSED to have water pump changed at the same time----- this DID happen on our iveco flair---
TWICE this year we have had water pump failure--- the impeller vanes had totally disappeard---- broken off!!!
In all my many years I have never had that happen before!!!
I wonder if the " newer" engines with elastic bands driving the camshaft have waterpumps that are designed with a short life to match the cambelt???
The whole point I am trying to make is----- IF you have a cambelt make sure the water pump is replaced as well.
I say I have replaced two water pumps this year------ it is actually THREE as our nissan4x4 had a leaking seal, so that was replaced too!!!!
Only one not changed this year is our new to us 1991 fiat motorhome---- perhaps we should pre empt that????

 

[pappajohn]

Impellor blades don't just fall off, they don't touch anything and there's only the pressure of pushing water around the system to cause any resistance.
Sounds more like a manufacturing fault.

 

[Derbyshire wanderer]

There have been quite a lot of issues with low quality water pumps and tensioners being sold with cambelt kits over recent years.
Good garages know what to buy and what to avoid but a little research would quickly point you to what would give confidence

 

[gus-lopez]

Only one not changed this year is our new to us 1991 fiat motorhome---- perhaps we should pre empt that????

If memory serves me correctly it is driven by the auxilary belt, along with alternator & power steering pump & is a cast iron monstorsity which,if the same as the 1900cc engine,is part of one engine mounting as well. If it isn't leaking I'd leave it alone.

 

[Sundowners]

Impellor blades don't just fall off, they don't touch anything and there's only the pressure of pushing water around the system to cause any resistance.
Sounds more like a manufacturing fault.

Two totally different cars/engines what are the chances?
No chance of ice as never gets cold enough--- and motors have antifreeze for corrosion protection

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[Sundowners]

If memory serves me correctly it is driven by the auxilary belt, along with alternator & power steering pump & is a cast iron monstorsity which,if the same as the 1900cc engine,is part of one engine mounting as well. If it isn't leaking I'd leave it alone.

The Opel diesel and nissan 4x4 I changed the water pumps on this year had the water pump driven by serpentine/auxiliary belt so not connected to cambelt----- I haven't looked for the fiat pump yet
The opel has done over 440,000km couldn't tell if it was original??

 

[ChrisL]

It's actually not that uncommon for water pump vanes to become eroded to the extent they appear to have disappeared, the cause of this is usually cavitation. This might be caused by blockages in the cooling system coupled with incorrect coolant mxture or other cooling issues.

 

[Wingman123]

Corrosion most likely due to to leaving antifreeze unchanged for 4/5years. Decided to change the cambelt and water pump on my Lotus Elan last year which had been left in the garage unused for 13 years and when stripped down it was a complete mess and corroded. Ordered the new kit from USA which was cheaper to import than buying in UK at the time even after paying import duty, fitted everything in by our mechanic but when started up it was clear something was wrong; stripped out the new parts again and found the impeller was spinning freely on the spindle. The impeller should be an interference fit on the spindle. Parcelled up the faulty unit and posted back to USA paying all the duty again which had to be reclaimed from HMRC. Had to pay for mechanics time to refit second replacement which still eventually was cheaper than on sorting out with a specialist garage in UK!
The moral of the the story is always purchase quality parts, change your antifreeze every 4 years and cambelt /water pump every 5 years without fail irrespective of milege.
Same goes for tyres, brake hoses and checking for corrosion in the copper brake pipes. Mine needed changing due to leaking from vibration damage where rubbing on the chassis.
My Ducato had a Fiat recall in 2019 for potential loose brake pipes failing due to a few cases reported of loose/missing pipe clips on recent models but all found good on our van.