96 Accord water pump

I've treated my 1996 Accord LX 4-cyl well. It's a great car, never
complains, and is always ready to go. It's had all the scheduled
services (or so I thought), plus a new oil pan after a quick change
place overtightened the drain plug. It's low mileage - it only has
104,000 miles - but over the last year I've been driving it a lot more
than before and taking it on cross-country trips every few months, so I
like the peace of mind that having it well-maintained brings. At the
beginning of the summer I had the radiator replaced at the first sign
of leaking around the infamous crimp around the top.

The timing belt was replaced at 90,000 miles. Looking at my records,
though, I noticed that there was no mention of the water pump. I
called my old dealer (I've moved and have a better dealer now), and was
told that they don't replace the water pump with the first timing belt,
because they almost never fail before the second timing belt.

If I knew then what I know now, I would have had the pump replaced
then. Water under the bridge. Now I'm about to go in for my 105,000
service. I'm wondering if I should have them go in and replace the
water pump. I don't need a new timing belt, obviously, and it's a bad
time for me to do this financially. I'd rather wait until 120,000 when
I'll either have more cash or a new Honda altogether.

I'd appreciate your thoughts on how urgent this is. My new dealer said
he'd check at 105,000 to see if it was leaking, but otherwise it should
be fine. But I've heard horror stories about water pumps seizing and
causing the timing belt to break. Thanks for any insight on whether
this will leave me stranded in the middle of nowhere before 120,000
miles.

Josh

 

it's not urgent. it's a honda. ideally, yes, replace while you're in
there because it makes no economic sense to skimp on a $45 part in the
middle of a $500 job, but bottom line is that genuine honda pumps are
very reliable and you're unlikely to have any problems. the original
honda pump on my crx flaked out at 305k miles. if you use aftermarket
pumps however, they are much less reliable so reduced change schedules
are essential.

 

Wow! My dealer told me that they "always" replace the water pump with the
timing belt, because they are hard to get to, and easy with the timing belt
off. That was certainly my experience. However, Honda doesn't recommend
this in the Owner's Manual. I suppose that Honda only recommends replacing
the water pump, when it fails.

If you have kept the original coolant, or only used Honda Genuine coolant
when topping off or changing it, then I think that your water pump is
probably OK. Usually, they fail because of a coolant seal leak, usually
caused by contaminated or improper coolant. That then leaks on the bearing,
which damages the bearing seal, leading to loss of bearing grease and the
horror stories that you have heard.

I would not worry about this. I would take your dealer up on his offer to
check for water pump leaks at the 105,000 mile service. If you park in the
same spot every night, always check for suspicious fluid spots in the
morning. I suspect that you do that already!

Earle

 

Ahh, the CRX. My first car, at age 15, was an 86 CRX. Considering what
I did to it - driving like a 15-year-old - and what I didn't do to it -
changing the oil like I should've - that CRX was what got me hooked on
Hondas. Between that CRX and my current Accord, I've never had to turn
the key twice to get them started. Ever. To be fair, I had an Altima in
between that also never had any problems, but I never took it past
100,000. I think all the Japanese cars are excellent, but I never worry
that my Honda won't get me where I'm going, and that means a lot.

Thanks to Jim and Earle for the sage advice about the water pump. Much
appreciated.

Josh

 

the crx is what's got a /lot/ of people hooked on hondas! they were
nuts to drop that car.