Van water pump dying prematurely

[carreauchompeur]

Hi folks

I have a 1994 Hymer motorhome based on 2.5D Fiat Ducato van. I’m about to replace engine water pump for the third time. Whilst part is under warranty, labour won’t be covered.

I’ve only done 3-4k max per year.
Is this something my mechanic is doing wrong, or a fault elsewhere? I just can’t understand why it keeps happening. Coolant is fresh and belt not over-tensioned…Just really don’t want it happening again!

Dec 2022- water pump bearings getting noisy. Fair enough, age related. Completely fine. Replaced with a Febi part.

July 2024 pump leaking from bearings. Replaced with another Febi part.

Guess what? July 2025 gone again. Think a similar issue. Awaiting replacement.

[Belle427]

Febi are normally ok parts wise but i would say its the pump quality on this occasion if the belt isnt too tight.
I would not fit a third one personally.

[E-bmw]

^^^^ Wot 'e said.

Under your circumstances, I would be asking for a Fiat genuine part from the dealer, or at a minimum seeing what brands are available.

[Vsix and Vtec]

Yeah I think at this point I'd be giving up on Febi and buying Genuine Fiat.

[carreauchompeur]

Unfortunately genuine ones are pretty rare to find, it’s a 30yr old van now….

They may have some FAST ones coming into stock, might try them.

[Belle427]

Never heard of them, is it timing belt driven on this engine?

[carreauchompeur]

Yep.

This van has done we so well but I’ve had crap luck with timing belts and water pumps. First garage horrendously overcharged me and changed the belt without the water pump, which then went in ‘22 and obviously since then…

[Smint]

Presumably timing belt driven water pump?, why do they do that with commercial vehicle engines especially, there's no reason for it, if the belt is tensioned too tight no one is any the wiser until bearings start failing.

Is the same engine found in other chassis perchance? ie Peugeot/Citroen which are often the same vehicle just badged to suit, if so gives more options for finding a genuine pump, might find alternative better makes in full timing belt kits.

[CHLEMCBC]

Autodoc seem to have various different ones to fit

[GreenV8S]

Typically, failing seals on old pumps are the result of worn bearings.

Worn brearings could result from excessive belt tension, but you say the tension is OK.

Were the bearings actually worn on the first Febi replacement pump? If not, perhaps you have something else going on with your cooling system which is damaging the seals. For example you might have way too much coolant pressure, or debris in the coolant, or an antifreeze mix which is chemically attacking the seals, or something like that.

If the bearings are wearing, I'd be looking for things that might cause the belt tension to change - for example a V belt tensioned by an alternator mount which hasn't been secured properly.

[LunarOne]

I watch M539 Restorations on Youtube for BMW content and he recently mentioned that Febi Bilstein quality has gone downhill massively recently. So it could be that you're fitting an inferior part and that something else would do better.

The water pump usually isn't under very high load, so the belt only needs to be tight enough to prevent slippage. But also check that all of the pulleys are aligned properly, because if it's not in the proper alignment, it will increase wear on the bearings significantly.

I think there's a Mahle pump available for your engine. If you can't find an original part, I'd try that first.

[Belle427]

I use a lot of Febi stuff and I can see why he made that comment, not that I have had a problem as such but the low prices for a lot of their parts does maybe tell a story.

[carreauchompeur]

Sorted, we hope, for now. Looks like it was coming from the weep hole of the pump, maybe a failure in the shaft, I dunno.

£270 down but fingers crossed!

[GreenV8S]

carreauchompeur said:

Looks like it was coming from the weep hole of the pump

That's normally a sign that the seal has failed.

[carreauchompeur]

GreenV8S said:

That's normally a sign that the seal has failed.

Indeed! Very odd for 2 to go in a row. We’ve flushed the system and changed from red to blue antifreeze just in case. Fingers crossed to not revive this thread in a year!