pennstater2005

Hi all,

I have a 2007 Honda Accord LX 4 cyl which has about 121,000 miles on it. It has and still runs great. I just bought a serpentine belt and water pump for it because I had a great offer (money back) if I bought something from a certain auto parts store by the end of the year.

The serpentine belt I believe I needed because it occasionally squeals and every time it rains and I hit a puddle the power steering goes out for a second.

My question is, is the water pump something that should replaced before it fails and how would I know it is failing?

Thanks

poorman212

On the four cyl cars....I would leave the water pump alone until it starts to go out. Usually when the begin to fail you will start to see a good amount of coolant leaking out of the "weep hole" on the pump.

Just my opinion.

tech8

It is good preventative maintenance if you want to replace it.

The bearing is a cause of failure many times instead of leaking; you'll know it by the bearing noise.

pennstater2005

Thanks for the responses. If I replace it now are the odds low that I would ever have to replace it again?

poorman212

Depends on how long you keep the car.....the OE one has lasted 120K.

pennstater2005

Not sure what I'm going to do. Probably will just hang onto the water pump until needed and install the serpentine belt soon. I'm only assuming it's the serpentine belt, it's never been changed, that causes the power steering to go out if I drive through puddles or even if it is raining heavily. What else could it be?

poorman212

Again the water pump is a matter of choice.

Yes I'd replace the belt. When the belt is off inspect all of the pulleys to be sure they spin freely and that. You can also inspect the tensioner to be sure it is within range.

JohnNH

My original water pump (2007 Accord SE 4 CYL) failed at 198k (started making noise due to play in the bearing) so possibly you could still get quite a bit more life out of yours. I did not have any visible leaking when my water pump failed but there was significant play in the water pump pulley and a rattling noise which was most noticeable at idle or revving the engine when parked. When you replace the belt, you can reach down and check for play in the water pump pulley.

I concur with poorman212, I would probably just wait for it to start failing (as indicated by leaking, noise or play in the pulley) and replace it then. When you do replace the water pump, you might consider replacing the thermostat at the same time since you'll need to drain the coolant anyway.