Water pump failures

KATLUNSFORD

MEMBER
2007 PONTIAC G6
3.5L
V6
2WD
AUTOMATIC
245,000 MILES

With my car listed above base model, I'm at a loss to explain why I have two water pump failures in three'years.

Yes, I'm on my third water pump, after the original unexpectedly quit with no warning; three years later a second water pump quit. The second failed pump was found to be the cause of an overheating condition. I had a trusted mechanic do the first repair, I myself did the second repair.

I just can't reasonably explain why this happened to myself, much less to anyone else. Is there any reasonable explanation?

3 Replies

JIS001

MECHANIC
3,411 POSTS

Hi and thank you for using 2CarPros. On your original repair did you use the orange coolant (Dex-Cool) or did you use the green coolant? If your using the wrong coolant and or driving on low coolant level then it can cause the water pump to fail prematurely. Also what brand pump are you using? Most after market water pumps with "Lifetime Warranty" are not built as the original one so they will just give you a new one every time it fails. I have had to go through a few myself until I got rid of the vehicle? As long as you have that warranty then sorry to say, your just going to need to replace them every few years.

My wife had a Windstar and Ford stop making parts for her vehicle. I had to replace her engine mounts every year like clock work with the brand available from the parts store and I hated when the summer would come around because I knew I had to do them all again. It is just how it was but I had the lifetime warranty. I just had to provide the labor.

I am sorry if this is not the answer you were looking for but if you can get the OE parts I would go with that and just stay on top of your coolant level. Coolant does dissipate and will need to be topped off from time to time.

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Monday, August 26th, 2019 AT 11:21 PM

KATLUNSFORD

MEMBER
11 POSTS

Yes, on the original repair and the second repair I made sure to use the orange (DEX-COOL) coolant.

As previously noted I used a well trusted mechanic for the first repair, and in doing the second repair myself, actually taught my mechanic something new. But in all fairness he normally doesn't even work on the G6's because they make him crazy like my car does me.

If this one goes out, with everything else I need done (seems like everything on the front end has decided to come under "I need repair now" category, I will most likely just take the car to the scrap yard.

I'm already way, way more invested than it's worth, and even though I need my car to get back and forth, I can't justify another costly repair on a vehicle that's more likely than not to either 1.) Completely quit before I even get started on the immediate repairs needed, or 2) I will decide to just get rid of it before putting any more money into it.

It's definitely been a serious learning experience, and I'm proud I got through the majority of the work myself, but sometimes being practical beats putting a band-aid on a burn.

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Wednesday, August 28th, 2019 AT 11:19 PM

KEN L

MASTER CERTIFIED MECHANIC
47,595 POSTS

Did you use an AC Delco part? Also, if you have the wrong size serpentine belt (too small) and the tensioner is maxed out it will putting too much pressure on the pump. Here are the instructions for the pump in case we missed something. Check out the diagrams (below). Please let us know what you find.

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