I'm going to be throwin in a new water pump and I'm curious what sage advice you guys have about the different brands?

I checked out autozone's website and they have a duralast (limited lifetime warranty) for $50 and a valucraft one (2yr warranty) for $65. I dont really care about the cost between these two, but I cant see them being very different? I wasnt able to check prices or availability of Napa water pumps because their website sucks.

It's a DD so I'm kind of hesitant to go ahead with an electric one. When it comes to close to $200 for the pump itself, pressing out shafts and such and hooking up all the wiring I'm not very interested in it. I also read a thread around here where an LS1 actually LOST 1lb torque and didnt gain or lose any hp....

I have never had any issues with any of my duralast parts and I actually like their tools, much better than harbor freight imo. It doesnt hurt that I live close enough to walk there while I'm working on my car too.

If anyone has any good/bad personal experiences feel free to post up, or if anyone has seen any magazine articles doing a comparison between brands that would be great too.

 

I worked for Autozone for over 8 years and seldom saw a water pump failure on their Duralast parts. Their lifetime warranty policy is hard to beat and they can look it up at any of their stores.

That being said....I bought a used CSR electric pump already mounted in a housing from a member here for about $150 about a year ago and it is working flawlessly. I DD the car too. I'm sure it won't last forever, but when it goes, I won't have to press out any shafts/bearings to swap in a new one.

 

I have a duralast, bought it in the middle of a move, and all they had in stock was a duralast. Ive had no issues in 3 or so months with it. no leaks, no overheating, etc. Obviously I cannot comment on long term, but I don't always baby the car, and its doing its job so far.

 

Thats kind of what I was thinking. Most people say duralast is crap just because they dont like it. It's just so dang close to my house, any problems and it just a 5 minute walk or 2 minute drive.

I bought a cap/rotor for my Jeep last week and they came with a lifetime warranty.......? LOL! I might just have to give it a tune up every other month for that price haha

 

I STRONGLY advise AGAINST using (let alone actually parting money for) Autozone Duralast parts on your car, especially the waterpumps. Here's why:

I've got a 95 3.4L v6 Camaro and, because of a string of DEFECTIVE Autozone Duralast parts (starting with an alternator pulley out of alignment that made me think the original WP was bad) has cused me to replace 3 Duralast waterpumps under their "lifetime, we bet your'e going to get sick of spending 6 hours each time under the hood of your car, warranty."

I just looked out in the garage today and noticed a puddle of antifreeze on the floor. This will be the third Autozone Duralast waterpump that I'll have to put on the car. Each time they have failed at the seals of the pump.
I would love to be able to say that I might have done something wrong, but each time I have flushed the system with water until clear, started it up with just distilled water and then drained it again. I have used a torque wrench and tightened each of the bolts to the GM specified correct torque. I have filled the system with the proper amount of Dexcool (yes Dexcool is perfectly safe for coolant systems, and no I don't wish to argue the point, other than to say if it fails you aren't taking care of your car).

Here's my story in detail:

2.5 years ago I decided that I needed to replace a still good stock water pump on my 3.4L 1995 Camaro because of what would later be determined to be a defective Autozone alternator. Thinking incorrectly that my stock Delco failed prematurely at 72,000 miles, and wanting to try something different, I went to NAPA, Advanced, and Orielly and was disenchanted by the chinese water pumps they carried, and finally settled on a Autozone Duralast (also chinese, but the best Autozone carries). Two and a half years and 18,000 miles later the Autozone Duralast waterpump failed (like water spewing out, 1/8 inch play, turbine cutting into water pump housing kind of failure, and with a rather short notice).

I replaced it under their gracious we-are-betting-you-don't-keep-that-car-very-long "lifetime warranty." I'm hoping that the little girl in China missed her daily beat down and just didn't get that first one assembled quite right, but I'm nervous that I may have just replaced junk with junk. Update: Guess what? I did, the second Duralast Waterpump FAILED.

I've heard (from some searching) that all the part's store waterpumps are the same. The good luck stories I have heard come from people who have had only 3 months or a year on their waterpump. I'm betting that most people after replacing the waterpump sell the car in short order.

I have decided that for the Waterpumps at least (lets not start with Autozone's electrical parts, my firend nearly lost his 65 mustang because of a fire started by a bad Duralast Starter) that I STRONGLY suggest you steer clear. the DELCO waterpump, even being 3 or 4 times the cost, is well worth the 18 hours I have spent on this problem to date. The cost in antifreeze and distilled water has now just about added up to the difference in price of a better waterpump from a different company (like Napa, Gates, or Delco)

If anyone asks me are Autozone Duralast parts are good? The answer I'll give is: No, Autozone Duralast parts are junk, and you will spend more time fixing the problem then you save.

 

Where is the LT1 water pump failure (that the OP is asking about) in the above story?

I have been running an Autozone lifetime warranty water pump for years now, no problems whatsoever. Some Autozone parts are good, some are not and need frequent replacement. The LT1 water pump I would say is good.

 

I ran a "duralast" water pump for about a year and a half on my old combo before upgrading to electric meziere WP that came assembled with a different pump already. No issues. Can't say the same about autozone alternators though...just had to exchange mine for a 2nd new replacement in less than 3 years on my LS1 car...funny thing is it took a **** literally while I was on the way to autozone to pick up brake lines, no less than a mile from the store; I could not help but be amused by the irony. I guess it was ready to go back to it's homeland in China. Whatever....I've also had expensive GM parts take a dump and they certainly were not under warranty when it came time to replace.

 

kgkern01: When I ran a google search to see if I could find any reports on "Autozone Camaro Water Pump Failure" this thread topped the list. Many of the V-6 folks visit this board to, so I recognized it as a popular board with well respected Camaro enthusiasts so I thought I'd post. You do have a valid point, though, the LT1 Duralast pump may not have this manufacturing defect (or design defect, depending upon how you define it). I posted because the OP was asking whether an Autozone Duralast would be okay. IMHO, the answer is NO, unless you don't mind doing the same job once, unless you don't mind doing the same job twice, unless you don't mind doing the same job thrice... and spending the money on the ancillaries (chemical flush, distilled water, antifreeze, sealant).


I understand that even under the best of circumstances that there is always a likelyhood of a premature failure, but so far I'm 1 for 4 on the last Duralast parts installed: 1 bad Autozone alternator, that caused me to replace my good original waterpump, 1 Autozone alternator that is still going (knock on wood) to replace the bad one, 2 bad Duralast Waterpumps, the first one nearly making it 3 years, the second closer to 3 months. Statistically this shouldn't happen to a person, even if the failure rate is a horrible 5 or 10 percent.

Correction to my last post, I did not use Dexcool, just the regular stuff. The Dexcool I used in my 3.8 Impala, and have not had problems with it (145,000 miles and counting) and since I most recently flushed it, I confused myself.