Waterpump
Thread Starter
Cruising
Joined: Feb 2005
Posts: 13
Likes: 0
Waterpump
Ok, I'm sure this has been debated before but I have noticed some discussion and am a little concerned. I have a 96 LT4, 25k miles. Should I be concerned about the waterpump/opti issue? I see that some people replace the waterpump for the hell of it before there is an issue. Should I be considering doing so???
Racer
Joined: Sep 2003
Posts: 275
Likes: 0
From: West Monroe La.
I wouldn't. The water pump on my 95 went away at 83,000 miles, and leaked water on the opti for two weeks. The opti kept working just fine. I put a new pump on, and replaced the opti then, just as a precaution. I kept the old one for a spare since it was still working.
The optis on our police package caprices routinely lasted well over 100,000 miles. They aren't as bad as many people say, especially the vented ones.
The optis on our police package caprices routinely lasted well over 100,000 miles. They aren't as bad as many people say, especially the vented ones.
Race Director
Joined: Oct 2005
Posts: 11,772
Likes: 177
From: Rolla Missouri
2021 C4 of the Year - Unmodified Finalist
St. Jude Donor '10 thru '25
Sometimes, the Opti issues are blown way out of proportion.
Of course some owners have had issues, and those are the ones you are reading about here and/or other forums.
What your probably not hearing about though, are the thousands of owners that haven't had any issues at all.
Replace when needed, not just because they might fail.
88k on my LT4, and no issues. Original Opti and water pump.
Safety Car
Joined: Sep 2002
Posts: 4,971
Likes: 9
From: The reason time exists is so everything doesn't happen at once
Water pumps last, on average, about 65,000 miles. Some owners get more than 100,000 miles so simple math says some will get way less than average. In any event at 25,000 miles I wouldn't worry. As a precaution you can hook a drain tube to the weep hole to channel any leaking coolant away from the opti should the wp fail.
Safety Car
Joined: May 2007
Posts: 3,651
Likes: 10
From: Apple Valley MN
The water pump on my LT4 went out at 39K miles. I replaced the opti while I was in there - wasn't having any problems with it, but I got a good deal on an MSD, and also changed the plugs and wires. I wouldn't touch it until you see signs of trouble. Keep an eye on the underside of your hood - when the water pump starts to go, you will often see a line of coolant spray that is slung from the serpentine belt.
Last edited by pianoguy; Apr 13, 2008 at 01:01 PM.
Drifting
Joined: Dec 2003
Posts: 1,493
Likes: 94
From: Westfield MA
My waterpump went at 59K and while I was there, I replaced the opti. I agonized over deciding to do that, now that it is done, I am happy I did it, but in your situation, I wouldn't do anything. Well I would flush and refill the cooling system every other year. I did a lot of reading about anti-freeze and the additives in it and have concluded it is much more important to keep this fresh than I initially thought.
