Ruben.L

2003 GC Laredo 6cyl. 4.0 4x4

OK, fellas i have the entire front end off and I'm ready to swap out my radiator for the new one. my question is....... should i replace the water pump too? I took it off to inspect it... no rust, corrosion, none of the "blades" are bent or warped, and it has no "play" to it when i move things around. seems perfectly fine. KEEP in mind, i'm only replacing the rad due to a hairline crack in the plastic part near the top hose. drove it for about 4 yrs in HI and CA with only drops coming out (not hot in either place) until recently it started spraying on me. So it wasn't due to mech. failure on the pump, therm, or rad (so to speak ).
so again, can i get away with saving $60 or do i bite the bullet and buy a new one while I'm at it?? Thanks in advance!!

dave1123

My advise? Look at it this way; it's 12 years old with a lot of miles on it. Do you want to rip it apart again to replace it in the near future? I wouldn't!

You've got it off already, why not put a new one on? Buy one with a METAL impeller, not plastic.

Ruben.L

Yeah.... I guess it was wishful thinking. hahaha

blueseasons

Hi Ruben. My name is Ray and I live across the bay in Santa Cruz. I agree with Dave. Go ahead and swap out the pump while you have it all apart. Something I ran into years ago on other vehicles and I never quit figured it out. Any time I changed out a radiator without changing the pump. I found the pump died shortly after. I am not sure why. The pump wasn't always as old as the radiator and sometimes I couldn't tell how old either were since I bought each vehicle used. I chalked it up to the pump bearing being dry for a while. That might not be true, but after several times, with this happening, I quit questioning why and just did it. Change the cap and thermostat while your at it and how old are all your hoses?

dave1123

ALL your hoses, including the heater. A good time for a new belt as well. The last time I changed my belt, it was still good so I cable-tied it together and stuck it under my spare tire "just in case."

blueseasons

Sounds more expensive now than you'd want it to be. In reality, it's just cheap insurance.
Any failing in any one of these parts of the cooling system, could leave you stranded, or worse.