Water Pump, to change or not to change

[Mikeetubster]

Afternoon all,

I'm about to change the Timing belt on my V70 2.4 D5. I know I have to change the tensioners and pulley bits and the fan belt, but wanted advice on whether to change the water pump while I'm at it.

I've heard they don't tend to fail dramatically and cause loads of damage, but fail slowly overtime. Usually pre-empted by a water leak. I'll be servicing the car at the same time so I'll be draining the coolant anyway, just wondering if it's worth doing at the moment as there's nothing wrong with the current one.

The car is a 53 registered 2004 with only 42k miles on the clock (this is not a typo, it is genuine miles) so the water pump hasn't really done that much work, and if I can save myself a few quid I may as well.

Thanks in advance and have a great weekend,

Michael

[Brendan W]

Common sense I think. If it's leaking or rough, change - otherwise no. They have an excellent reputation and needn't be changed as a matter of course.

[Fortune7]

I asked the same question to a senior mechanic at our main Volvo dealer yesterday. He reckons water pumps last well over 200k miles, but I suppose there's always the odd exception. My V70 has done 92k, will get the belt changed at 96k, and I won't be changing the pump unless it starts leaking or squealing before then, if this helps.

Cheers, Andy

[Clan]

Originally Posted by Mikeetubster

Afternoon all,

I'm about to change the Timing belt on my V70 2.4 D5. I know I have to change the tensioners and pulley bits and the fan belt, but wanted advice on whether to change the water pump while I'm at it.

I've heard they don't tend to fail dramatically and cause loads of damage, but fail slowly overtime. Usually pre-empted by a water leak. I'll be servicing the car at the same time so I'll be draining the coolant anyway, just wondering if it's worth doing at the moment as there's nothing wrong with the current one.

The car is a 53 registered 2004 with only 42k miles on the clock (this is not a typo, it is genuine miles) so the water pump hasn't really done that much work, and if I can save myself a few quid I may as well.

Thanks in advance and have a great weekend,

Michael

You wont need a pump , i've yet to hear of one which has had a bearing fail since they were introduced on the 960 in 1990 !
The test is rotate it by hand , spin it , it whould be nice and smooth with no harsh spinning sound , Don't worry about a just detecatable amount of play thats normal . Volvo chose the very best quality bearings and seals for these pumps for obvious reasons , they didnt want their reputation tarnished by engines being wrecked by poor quality bearings failing , and they have been proved right over time . This is still the case today with water pumps , but fords intervention has caused a few problems with aux belt tensioner pulleys from about 2006 to the present day !

[Thassos]

Hi mike,

Dont know if you came across this useful thread on changing the D5 timing belt,

http://www.volvoforums.org.uk/showthread.php?t=138030

Only tricky bit is that crankshaft nut ..! @ 300nM

[Richmann]

Never changed a pump yet in the last 10 years of having volvos and doing 100000s of miles. Even on cars with 250000 miles on them.
Just my opinion I do the belt, tensioners and idlers every time I do a belt.

Rich

[bigtree]

Originally Posted by Clan

You wont need a pump , i've yet to hear of one which has had a bearing fail since they were introduced on the 960 in 1990 !
The test is rotate it by hand , spin it , it whould be nice and smooth with no harsh spinning sound , Don't worry about a just detecatable amount of play thats normal . Volvo chose the very best quality bearings and seals for these pumps for obvious reasons , they didnt want their reputation tarnished by engines being wrecked by poor quality bearings failing , and they have been proved right over time . This is still the case today with water pumps , but fords intervention has caused a few problems with aux belt tensioner pulleys from about 2006 to the present day !

Hmm, wish i'd know this, when we bought our XC90 i had the cambelt changed, and the water pump which is standard for VWs these days. Used a genuine beltkit but non-genuine pump

[Clan]

Originally Posted by bigtree

Hmm, wish i'd know this, when we bought our XC90 i had the cambelt changed, and the water pump which is standard for VWs these days. Used a genuine beltkit but non-genuine pump

Its not a VW, i rate swedish engineering higher .
Oh dear , well you have done away with volvo's proven virtualy everlasting water pump and replaced it by one of unknown reliability and lifespan , i wish you good luck ...

[bigtree]

Just my luck, and me being a little OCD, i've now added a new job to the list!

[GMad]

Originally Posted by Clan

i rate swedish engineering higher

Although the bearings in them are made in the Czech Republic