I am after opinions. I have a 93 - 929. A while back I put in a new water pump from NAPA. After driving a couple of weeks the pump cracked. (Could have been my fault, but NAPA warrantied it.) I installed the replacement (I think it was a rebuilt) and car was running great. I had to pull out into traffic fast on Friday. After doing so, the engine started rocking bad. Checked and the water pump seems to be out of alignment. Rod leading to fan clutch seems a little off. This little off, rocks engine as slow speeds. I called NAPA and they have a new one, to replace this one. Heres the question.... do you think a new NAPA pump is different from a new MAZDA pump? Mazda's price is 2.5 times more than NAPA.

 

well, what brand is the NAPA pump? i bought a reman pump for my GFs truck, and it was a factory pump, reman'd.

 

I do not have the box from it anymore, so I am not sure what brand the pump is. From what I remember the box was just labeled NAPA. I just don't know if I am wasting my time and should fork out the extra $$ and buy a Mazda Cerified part. I have also just replacde the Fan Clutch, if it was outta of balance it could ruin the water pump, but I would think that the engine would rock if this was the case.

 

To be quite honest, they are NOT the same. The NAPA brand uses whatever cores they get (provided they pass inspection), so you MIGHT wind up with one that has the OEM casing. It, however, does not mean that they are the same as the OEM part.

The OEM Reman part number is: JE48-15-010R-ME, and I sell it for 75.21 + 25.00 core deposit.
Add to that the cost of the gasket (6.47), and actual shipping charges.

 

I would NEVER buy a rebuilt part, most all of them are rebuilt in a third world factory by kids. I'm not being a smart [sm=smiley35.gif], but it's the truth. These parts still have the factory casting marks, but are junk. Thats why they are so cheap. Spend a few extra $$ and always buy the new part, you will be much happier. I used to work for Autozone many years ago and at the training classes before working in store, they tell us that the rebuilt parts are inferior. The point of this is marketing, because they said a customer that returns spends about $40 on average when exchanging something such as a water pump, alternator, starter, etc... Because the customer is so happy[sm=wootwoot.gif] to get a "lifetime warranty" part replaced, they will spend money while visiting the store. So the moral to the story, always opt for the new part!

[sm=rant.gif]

 

May have been a cheaper part initially but how much is your own time worth to keep installing the same hard to get at part time and time again. Don't know about you but my time is much more valuable than the $60 savings in the reman pump.

 

I removed my fan clutch in an effort to rouble shoot. I ran the car without the fan clutch and all worked fine. (except temp of car). The car did not rock. Belt to water pump etc ran smooth. I then purchased a new Fan Clutch because the one I had was a rebuilt. Car started shaking when Fan Clutch was installed. I ended up replacing both the Fan Clutch and Water Pump. Now all is good. Thanks for the advice!