Water Pump - Short life?

[Cthulhu]

Hey guys..

I got my truck back today after it threw the serpentine belt on the weekend. Root cause was a seized water pump. No collateral damage caused, other than the inconvenience of losing the truck for the 2 days.

The service adviser stated that water pumps on the 5.9 Cummins typically last 150-200,000km and its not uncommon for them to fail like this. A symptom which I missed (my wife has pointed out she 'told me so') is a slight howl during start-up, likely due to dry bearings grinding against the pump shaft. It did that for some time before failing, and I never actually heard it, so take it for what its worth. The bright side to this whole thing is that if you do lose your belt/water pump like this, there's no collateral damage...

What are others getting out of their water pumps? Is there something I could have done to avoid the $1000 bill to replace it? I got 235,000kms before it failed on me, but I don't know if this is the first pump in the truck or not.

 

[RonJon '06]

The water pump on my Hemi started to leak around the impeller shaft at about 140K mi / 225K km, thats when I replaced it.

 

[KarL45]

Water pump failure

Yep, you missed the "Big Tip Off". The wife. lol Being a mechanic for over 50 years, and having a wife that drove, have learned that is she says " There's a noise, vibration, etc., There most likely is. We may not hear or feel it, but just be aware, we'll find out what she heard and at the most inopportune time or place. lol As for preventative measures, not too much we can do. Used to be, drive belt tension would effect it but now with automatic tensioners, nothing can or needs to be done. The only thing that can or may play into it is the alkalinity of the coolant. Being low, will cause corrosion that will lead to an early leakage problem. A check of protection and such after mid life would be strongly suggested as most mfg's now say change at 100k. Again, "Listen to the Wife". lol She is the best PM we got. lol

 

[xb1230]

KarL45, does your wife give any trainning... mine is pretty useless when it comes to mechanic...

When she comes to me with an issue it is usually much too late...

 

[StaLL1oN]

KarL45, does your wife give any trainning... mine is pretty useless when it comes to mechanic...

When she comes to me with an issue it is usually much too late...

Hahaha I feel your pain there brother!!