Water pump change - Cautionary tale

[Ripstop]

Following on from my recent water pump change due to a leak - Small amount of loss from the bottle and a tell tale pink dribble on the sump and the small puddle on the floor - I discovered a few things about the old(new 5000 miles ago) water pump. A little history first... The car was bought from a garage who agreed to change the water pump and belt as part of the deal. Great I thought .... but I forgot to specify OEM. Never mind I thought can't be that bad and I will do OEM next time.

6 months later I get the small leak and I pretty much know its the water pump so book it in (different garage  and get it changed)

First thing to note is the old pump had the alloy impeller and in fact was just rubbing a tiny bit in the locating well in the head. The mechanic said it wasn't a big deal as the head was cast iron and not alloy but not the best fit.  The worst part was that the bearings were shot after only 5000 miles and the leak was from a poorly fitting O-ring seal. The belt and idlers were fine and so the pump was replaced with a VW OEM item. Now I don't have a leak and I am happy I wont need to change it for another 40,000 to 60,000 miles.

So in this case the non VW part didn't do the job and didn't fit well enough. You pays your money and takes your choice. And sorry I didn't get the make of the old water pump - I forgot to ask and have a look 

[pudding]

For that very reason I stopped using pattern parts years ago!

They are fine if you just want to move the car on, but for keepers, strictly OEM 

[19TW80]

Personally, I'm not of that persuasion. If I was intending to move a car on and it needed new parts, I'd always opt for OEM.

[MPS]

Buy cheap, buy twice.

[Flyingscotsman]

I would only buy non-oem if I knew it was same factory as oem eg TRW brake calipers or Mann oil filter

[4ndy]

I would only buy non-oem if I knew it was same factory as oem eg TRW brake calipers or Mann oil filter

Good point Once you know who makes what you can save yourself a lot of money especially if like me changing filters every few months

[Chris92]

I would only buy non-oem if I knew it was same factory as oem eg TRW brake calipers or Mann oil filter

Good point Once you know who makes what you can save yourself a lot of money especially if like me changing filters every few months

This^^

I always look for a brand on parts I remove, vw filters are normaly always Mann ones, timing belts I've seen dayco from the factory etc etc no need to pay daft money to dealers. Still some people don't think it's good enough without being in a vw box

[Chargercharger]

Your be supprised how many parts car manufacturers sell with there stamps on who are made by other companies. Obviously vw and such a like cant make every part but , many non oem parts are actually identical to what youd buy from dealers.

Obviously in your situation the part was a poor quality part so under stand the point youve made :)