Water Pump

**JRF57** · 02-19-2006, 05:47 PM

Im taking my 02 Z in tomorrow for a front and rear wheel bearing replacement. This car has 70K on it and has been driven relatively easy ever since Ive owned it. Is this a normal problem for these cars?

The other reason Im taking it in is to have my fourth (yes 4th) water pump put on this thing. I am only getting about 20K miles out of water pumps. What the heck is the deal with that? Any ideas out there?

Im beginning to think I bought the end of the line car with all the left over parts----

**mo gomez** · 02-19-2006, 07:01 PM

youre front wheel bearings are sealed hub style non-serviceable units that usually only fail in vehicles with higher mileage or possibly prior accident damage. youre rear bearings are inside the differential housing are much poorer strength than the front i am assuming when you say rear wheel bearings you mean axle bearings, the most common rear bearings ive replaced are the carrier bearings and pinion bearings. a;; the differential components and bearings in f-bodies are small,weak and a common failure. as for youre water pump i have replaced many on all the ve cars and trucks but i have not had any come back anytime soon, are you using the proper coolant water ratio? if you use too much water or staight water it will damage the pump seal behind the pulley an cause it to leak.

**YoMommasTA** · 02-19-2006, 07:11 PM

Originally Posted by JRF57

Im taking my 02 Z in tomorrow for a front and rear wheel bearing replacement. This car has 70K on it and has been driven relatively easy ever since Ive owned it. Is this a normal problem for these cars?

The other reason Im taking it in is to have my fourth (yes 4th) water pump put on this thing. I am only getting about 20K miles out of water pumps. What the heck is the deal with that? Any ideas out there?

Im beginning to think I bought the end of the line car with all the left over parts----

all i can say is WTH is going on?those are the strangest items to wear out.the frt wheel bearings?are you sure?the water pump every 20k? thats crazy.what brand was installed?the stock pump goes 100k easily in these cars.the water pump gaskets do have some leakage problems.are you sure the updated gaskets are being used?if not they are replacing the pump when all you need is gaskets.tell me why they are changing the wheel bearings?i'm interested to hear this story.also if the rear bearing are bad the axles would need replacing too.

**JRF57** · 02-20-2006, 04:44 AM

First let me say thanks for the info and interest you guys provided.
To answer the first question about the water ratio on the antifreeze..Im not real sure what was used. The first failure was from the factory at 30k, so Im guessing the ratio was right. The second two failures at around 50k and 69k. Im not sure what ratio they used but its def got plenty of antifreeze in it (red and all) not straight water. Im pretty sure they changed the pumps as I mark them before I take them in to be sure they are actually doing the work. Im getting ready to take it in now and there are definately more drips under there so we will see. Ill mention the gasket problem to them.

As far as the wheel bearings--The front definately has a growl to it. We are assuming at this point it is the bearings because of the noise it is making..very noisy and very irritating. The rear bearings are making also making a growling noise that is really loud between the speeds of 15 and 70 mph. Once past that it seems to quiten down just a bit. The really funny thing about it is when you are giving it gas it is loud. The second you take your foot off the gas pedal the noise quitens down. Ive changed the fluid and no help there. Soooo we will see when I get it in what they find...Ill keep you posted. Thanks

**TommySS** · 02-20-2006, 06:33 AM

Did you buy this unit new?

**02z28ls1** · 02-20-2006, 06:52 AM

The one sound is more like a differential noise than an axle bearing noise.It's possible to run over a huge pothole,the kind that blows tires,and have the bearings continue working for quite a while before failing.Then they mess up later at about the same time.Other than that-high speed driving and autocrossing can be hard on bearings also. And as Yomomma has pointed out numerous times (sigh) the water pump gaskets seem to fail,not the waterpumps.

**JRF57** · 02-20-2006, 09:32 AM

Yep...had it since day one and babied the hell out of it...Thats prob whats wrong with it-

**SeVeReDiStOrTiOn** · 02-20-2006, 12:05 PM

Probably gonna need new axles if you keep driving it with bad bearings...they'll pit the axles all to hell.

**YoMommasTA** · 02-21-2006, 01:24 PM

ever take your car in for frt brakes? maybe someone beat on the rotors to get them off.you can't do that on these newer cars,it ruins the bearings inside that sealed hub.

**02z28ls1** · 02-22-2006, 07:30 PM

If your rear axles are bad there is a product called an "axle saver"that is a replacement rear axle bearing and seal(s) that slips in place of the rear axle bearing.Puts the bearing running on a different place on the axle and adds an extra seal inside of the bearing.This can save a considerable amount of money over replacing the axle because the bearing went bad.Ask your mechanic about it-I've done these numerous times over the years with good success.