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Waterpump Brands

XxJenoxX

Skin Suit
Joined
Apr 25, 2010
Location
Pittsburgh, PA
I know this thread exists a million times over, but the consensus seems to change every year or so. So here we are again. What's the current standing on Graf pumps? $10 cheaper than Hepu, both have 5 star reviews on FCP, and from what I found from 2016 threads, Hepu seemed to be slipping in quality.

Updates? The wagon is currently running the standard green, too. What's the latest on that?

I was told that all this sh1t was done, but there's oil covering the water pump at no insignificant rate, and the temp climbs a needle width or two when I climb moderate length, steep-ish hills. And PGH is made of them. I WANT THAT GAUGE THAT DOESN'T MOVE, DAMMIT! :lol: (Said the girl who smashed a hole in a 3-row this winter...)
 
I don't have a comment on Graf, however, the Gates pump sold at rockauto has the same impeller design as a Hepu. I bought/installed one last month, but haven't used that engine yet.

I also installed a Gates pump on our Forester 2 years ago (no probs), and ditto on a Saab last year (also no probs).
 
Gates is the OE manufacturer for basically every auto maker out there now. I use Gates WP's on everything at work with zero come backs for leaks/failures. They're well priced and are well built, go for it. They're $27 including the ride on RockAuto.
 
Grafs are not good in my opinion. Stamped wheel, flimsy bearings. I had to replace one after 13k miles on my '80 rabbit.
 
And yeah, I asked this question before, but never got an answer because everyone just said to tighten the hose clamps down more (spoiler alert: That didn't work. Made the leak worse)...Any experience with the Mackay hoses FCP has? I have inevitably sh1t Uro hoses on the wagon, so I might as well save myself that headache later.

Edit: Unless you're gonna tell me they're on par with Continental's quality, nevermind...Rockauto has Contis for less. Just gonna end up eating the shipping.
 
The Continentals are good. URO has improved their hoses. Can't speak to MacKay. ACDelco Professional parts are solid as well. I don't trust Bosch for anything other than electronics components on these cars...Stant or Gates for the t-stat. 190* is where it's at for most of us in the temperate/cold climates.
 
I just went for the mid-range for the tstat. It seems to open a little hot on hills on warmer days, and it hasn't really been hot yet. Easy enough to swap out if I'm wrong.

Maybe I'll keep the Uros as backups. The Continentals were cheaper and even ended up shipping from the same place as the water pump, so it still came out cheaper than FCP.

SO:
Gates water pump
Continental hoses 2x
Wahler tstat 82*
Reinz cam seal 2x in case I f7ck it up (god dammit, that thing is pissing oil everywhere)
Fuel filter crush washers
Bosch coolant temp sensor
Washer fluid check valve for the rear window (It was prob dumb to pay $10 for this)

Gotta buy coolant. I want to upgrade, but also I don't want to get something harder to find in case I need emergency coolant.
 
Toyota red or zyrex are both excellent coolants that are affordable and available everywhere. I made the switch on all my volvos years ago and have had zero issues.
 
Toyota Red, Zerex, Dexcool. Dexcool you can get anywhere and you can get it in generic not made specifically by ACDelco/GM. It's come down in price per gallon of concentrate over Toyota Red. I am running Dex in both my cars without issue.
 
I wouldn’t buy anything but Volvo cam seals. I have seen many many leak brand new installed properly.

I use toyota red coolant and it’s great stuff.
 
Toyota Red, Zerex, Dexcool. Dexcool you can get anywhere and you can get it in generic not made specifically by ACDelco/GM. It's come down in price per gallon of concentrate over Toyota Red. I am running Dex in both my cars without issue.

Doesn't dexcool have the coagulation issue if combined with other coolant types?
 
Doesn't dexcool have the coagulation issue if combined with other coolant types?

If she is doing a new WP and t-stat; she'll be flushing the system until it runs clear and no sediment comes out before she installs her new components, so it will not be a problem.
 
If she is doing a new WP and t-stat; she'll be flushing the system until it runs clear and no sediment comes out before she installs her new components, so it will not be a problem.

It's actually a major problem if you ever pay someone else to do your oil change and they top off your coolant with the wrong stuff (at $25/change I can't justify doing it myself). The Toyota red is compatible with all other coolants. Pretty stupid to have a coolant that will destroy an engine if one moron adds the wrong type. Not worth the $4/gal price break from the Toyota red. Zerex pink is the same price as dexcool.
 
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