My B20z original Honda waterpump's rubber seal gave up the ghost and started leaking at 135,000miles , the pump is still perfect though.
Options for the waterpump replacement is Graf or GMB, GMB seems the better one, made in Japan and all or is the GRAF also not bad albeit made in Italy?

 

AISIN is best.

 

Is that the OE part?
Unfortunately I can only chose from GMB or Graf, looks like Honda may sell the gasket on it's own but probably wiser just to replace the original pump, looks remarkably good for what is probably a 19yr old pump though.

 

The most important "quality" mark of a WP is the impeller blades, how they are cast, etc. etc. Everything else is pretty much relative..

I'm confused by your OP... Are you ordering through Honda? I've never heard of GRAF, but I've heard no problems from GMB...

 

Impeller blades on all the pumps I'm referring to are pressed steel not cast steel or plastic.
I can get the GMB, Graf or OE Honda(whatever OEM that is) but the OE Honda is stupid expensive at my local Honda sealer so that leaves me the choice of Graf or GMB.

 

Honestly, dealer consumables like that aren't really made in Japan, or "OE". A lot of them source parts from their factories in Thailand or Malaysia (which there is nothing wrong with since, they have good QC) and slap the OEM bag around it.

But if you go OE, it's very unlikely your pump will fail. What kinda price difference we talking between GMB and OEM?

If you source the WP from a local store (say, autoz), it isn't that big of a deal if you get something totally crap. You just walk back in and swap it out. If you can source GMB through a local store that'd probably be the best of both worlds..

The only thing I refuse to buy from parts stores is A/C compressors. They almost always ship it with the wrong oil or the QC is just garbage. I went through 7 comps on the protege. Not fun .

 

"If you source the WP from a local store (say, autoz), it isn't that big of a deal if you get something totally crap. You just walk back in and swap it out."

You say that, but remember the water pump is timing belt-driven on this engine. You're essentially doing a t-belt job to put in the water pump, plus dealing with draining and filling the cooling system. If that's no big deal then you're a far more patient man than I!

I've used GMB water pumps on a Civic, a Miata, and my current CR-V with no problems. When I do my next t-belt I'll be buying another GMB water pump. They appear to be well made and seem to last at least the change interval of a timing belt which is all I need since I replace them together.

 

The OE Honda part is 3.5x the GMB part, Honda sells the waterpump seal on it's own which is all my currently leaking OE pump needs and apparently the OE pump is very good, the Honda tech said they only replaces them when they break not automatically at every timing belt change like we might do. The issue is the seal is on 3 day back order and is 1/3 of the cost of a new GMB complete waterpump so I ponied up and got the GMB pump this afternoon.

Although a waterpump failure is typically a headache rather than a train smash I wouldn't go no name brand chinese cheapie, it's not worth the work and cost if it needs replacing prematurely, it's like using cheapie oil seals on the crank/camshaft, they'll probably work fine but there's a good chance they will fail well before the next timing belt change comes up.

 

I dont know why your choice is limited to GMB or Graf.


AISIN, or OE is the only route Id go. If I was really pinching pennies,then Id use Gates and nothing else.


Ive never heard of Graf,but GMB is trash and youll not find one professional technician who would recommend GMB anything. They have a horrible reputation in the automotive service industry and for good reason.


Cheap pumps are cheap for a reason. Spend a little more now and avoid having to potentially spend several hundred later.....

 

GMB are definitely far from being cheap and from looking around on Google and Amazon they seem to have a good enough reputation.
Even Gates has failures, I wanted gates waterpump but for some reason the local parts shop could only get me the Gates timing belt.
GMB is an OE waterpump supplier to Hyundai, Kia, GM, and Chrysler so they must be pretty decent.

 

Well, what do I know?

Your logic trumps all. Glad you found what suits you.......

 

In my experience logic generally does trump broad and unsubstantiated generalizations.

 

Lol, it's all good. Seems like you both have an idea about what you're talking about...

I would agree with DCFIVER.. OEM>Gates>all others. But, I've never really heard bad things about GMB..

Why can't you just order a Gates one online? Are you not doing this yourself?