Dealer recommends replacing water pump
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Dealer recommends replacing water pump
Last fall when I took my Corvette into the dealership for its oil change before storing it for winter, the dealer said I should change the water pump.
My C6 has 26,000 miles on it, it's a 2006 C6 Base. A couple of bolt-on mods (intake, exhaust).
Is this normal or is this dealer b.s.? Does a water pump wear out due to age?
I can take a video with sound of the engine running. Engine temps look good.
My C6 has 26,000 miles on it, it's a 2006 C6 Base. A couple of bolt-on mods (intake, exhaust).
Is this normal or is this dealer b.s.? Does a water pump wear out due to age?
I can take a video with sound of the engine running. Engine temps look good.
Last edited by Highway Dancer; Apr 10, 2020 at 10:45 AM.
Retired & lovin' it!
Joined: Mar 2005
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From: Jackson NJ
Unfortunately, sounds like a dealer scam. Unless you find signs of coolant leakage or bearing noise, there's no reason to change out a water pump. I've got 50K plus miles on my '05 & water pump is running fine. If you must use a dealer for service versus a reputable Corvette shop, be sure to understand beforehand just want needs to be done & refuse any other service until you can independently verify. Unfortunately, dealers are hurting now more than ever & will try anything to generate more service revenue.
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C6 water pump,
If the water pump is going out, it will start to leak from the pulley shaft, and will have signs of orange Dex-cool on the inside of the pulley.
Is it common for the pump to start leaking at the shaft at 26K, not really, but it not out of the question either.
So the easy way to check, is to just use a Q tip to swap the inside of the pulley at the bottom, and see if you see anything orange on the Q tip (color of dexcool).
If your seeing orange at the back of the pump to motor, then it just the one of the two gaskets that are starting to leak and the gaskets just need to be replaced.
As for the connections to the water pump, all on the same side, and could be a simple as a loose band clamp instead.
So again if there is orange fuid that you are seeing, find where it leaking out from.
At 26K, my guess would be either rear gaskets, or just one of the hose clamps loose isntead.
To note, when you replace the T-stat, it will come with its own gasket. Hence system should be flushed, and T stat replaced every 5 years, but you don't need to replace the water pump itself, unless it starting to leak at the its shaft.
If the water pump is going out, it will start to leak from the pulley shaft, and will have signs of orange Dex-cool on the inside of the pulley.
Is it common for the pump to start leaking at the shaft at 26K, not really, but it not out of the question either.
So the easy way to check, is to just use a Q tip to swap the inside of the pulley at the bottom, and see if you see anything orange on the Q tip (color of dexcool).
If your seeing orange at the back of the pump to motor, then it just the one of the two gaskets that are starting to leak and the gaskets just need to be replaced.
As for the connections to the water pump, all on the same side, and could be a simple as a loose band clamp instead.
So again if there is orange fuid that you are seeing, find where it leaking out from.
At 26K, my guess would be either rear gaskets, or just one of the hose clamps loose isntead.
To note, when you replace the T-stat, it will come with its own gasket. Hence system should be flushed, and T stat replaced every 5 years, but you don't need to replace the water pump itself, unless it starting to leak at the its shaft.
