[IndischRot968]

Hi guys,

The time has come to replace belts and rollers. I believe it makes sense to replace water pump at the same time as I have no records indicating when it was replaced last time and whether it was replaced at all. OEM part can be found for around $550, Laso brand for around $300, and DeutschepartsUSA offers one on their Ebay store for $140. The last one is claimed to be manufactured by Hamburg Technic, but the price looks too good to be true. I've also heard some negative comments on suspension parts manufactured by Hamburg Technic, so I guess the same may be true for other parts of this brand. Does anybody have an experience with Hamburg Technic water pumps? If not, what about Laso? Is it good quality, or I'll be better off sticking to OEM Porsche?

Thanks.

Tomas

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[Darryl]

Porsche does not make water pumps. Laso is the OEM, or at least one of them. Hamburg Technik does have some negative feedback, but none that I know of first hand. They are a lower cost aftermarket supplier for many european brands of automobiles.

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[IndischRot968]

Thanks, Darryl. I know that Porsche does not manufacture water pumps itself as well as majority of other components. They have other things to do, such as secretly scooping VW shares a couple of years ago <img src="/forum/images/smilies/968/smile.gif" class="smilie" alt="" />.

I believe Geba and GK/Kolbenschmidt were waterpump suppliers to Porsche. Laso might became OEM as well, but what I'm trying to find out is reliability of the component. Which brand did people buy when replacing water pump and did they have any quality problems afterwards?

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[Chris Vais]

Having had very poor experiences with rebuilt pumps, I only install new OEM pumps. When you consider the labor cost to remove and install a water pump only to have a rebuilt unit fail in a weeks time and then have to incur the labor cost to install another, it really doesn't make sense no to install a new OEM. Fortunately my mechanic ate the labor cost incurred to install the two failed pumps. I believe tha he was able to recover some of that cost from the supplier.



Now if you are doing your own work maybe using a rebuild or cheaper unit makes sense, but your time is worth something to you.

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[Cloud9...68]

Water pump replacement on these cars has definitely been a case of Russion roulette. Personally, I went with a remanufactured one from Paragon Products (no idea who the supplier was) three years ago, and I've had no problems. But then, I do 100% of my own work on the car (seems that one would need a bank account that rivals those of folks with names like Buffet, Gates, Dell, Slim, etc., if you don't <img src="/forum/images/smilies/968/biggrin.gif" class="smilie" alt="" /> ) , plus it's not a daily driver, so I'm more willing to take some risk in order to save some money.

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[DaveN]

I have the Hamburg Technic one in, goord for 3 months so far <img src="/forum/images/smilies/968/unsure.gif" class="smilie" alt="" /> Hoping for another 10 years! With the belt DIY in the works it almost pays to get the 140.00 one and change it yourself if it ever goes.

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[shepherd32]

I do all my own work as well, so I chose to go with a "Auto-Pac" remanufactured pump from somewhere that wasn't Paragon about 18 months/15,000 miles ago and it just started to weep coolant from the weep hole at a pretty good rate. Unfortunetly, this likely means bearing seal failure as the pump spins freely while in hand, but does make considerable noise.The last time was the first time I had the front of the engine apart, this time went much more smoothly. I'm ordering the Paragon remanufactured pump as I've heard nothing but good things about its longevity and after I return the core, it's the same price as the Hamburg Technic. I believe luck plays a part in how long it will last tho.

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[DaveN]

The only thing to watch (gleaned info from the latest discussions) is that the reman pump housings may not be that true and therefore prone to leaking whereas a new pump casting (which the Hamburg claims to be) will be factory true.

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[astroede]

I just replaced an Auto-Pac remanufactured pump that had only 2000 miles on it. Seal failed and bearing was sloppy. New remanufactured pump is from Vertex Auto.

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[kwikt]

I went with the Zim's rebuilt unit. So far so good.

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[jfrahm]

For what it is worth I expect a quality pump to last 100K street miles and would not change a pump with less than maybe 75K on it unless you have a good reason to. Some people might take this advice and have a pump fail shortly after a belt change, some might swap a good pump for a bad rebuild so you pays your money and you takes your chance but that is my advice. IMO the earlier generations without the timing belt tensioning piston were more prone to water pump damage by people who set the timing belt too tight to let it settle into the correct tension. This is not an issue on the 968.



-Joel.

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