Broken Impeller on Water Pump, now what?

[WW2]

While replacing my timing belt, I decided to follow the advice to replace the water pump. Upon removing the water pump I discovered that about 1/4 of the impeller is missing. There were no loose parts in the opening so I can only assume that the missing parts of the impeller are inside the cooling passages in the engine. Now what?

I don't think it would be smart to just pop in the new water pump and timing belt. The valves are obviously bent since I cannot easily turn the cam shaft pulley that the timing belt turns, so at the very least I need to pull and rebuild the head.

Do I just flush the engine and hope for the best, or should I pull the engine and consider this time for a rebuild? The engine only has 85,000 miles on it.

[scarabY2k]

Why would the vales be bent? Were you running the bug on a broken timing belt?

Missing impellers are commonplace for those OEM water pumps. A flush might do the trick.

[WW2]

The reason I am replacing the water pump is that the timing belt failed with about 30 teeth stripped off the belt. When I tried to rotate the camshaft gear, It took all my weight to just get it to move. Yet, the engine easily turned with a ratchet on the cranshaft bolt. No need to worry about trying to align TDC with this amount of stripping of the timing belt. It is obvious that I need to remove the head and have it rebuilt. TDC alignment will be done at the time of the install.

Just wondering if I should pull the engine and rebuild at this point or just fix the water pump, flush the system, rebuild the head, and put it all back together.

[scarabY2k]

YIKES!!! Yeah, sounds like an engine rebuild in your future, at least the top end. What kind of motor is it?

[WW2]

It's a 2000 1.8 turbo!

[D2Beetle]

This thread might be of some help to you and your decision of what to do. Ooops, I read your reply to my post after I read your thread. Anyway there is little you can do about broken plastic pieces in the cooling system, as you have no idea when the impeller actually came apart. There is no way for certain to say that it occurred at the same time as the TB teeth stripping.

I say forget about it, do what you need to do to get the head fixed and perhaps during the tear down you will find the impeller pieces.

[akasha1963]

I voted before I read the thread. IF the timing belt had not gone I would just do a very thourough engine flush to get the piece of plastic out & replace with a metal impeller water pump. SInce the timing belt is gone, yes, the top half of your engine needs to be rebuilt. Major suckage but your car will run like new (at least mine does).

[2004NBTURBOS]

Yank the head, get it fixed. Put it back on with the new water pump. Tune it. Drive it. Love it.

[simonsi]

Originally Posted by 2004NBTURBOS

Yank the head, get it fixed. Put it back on with the new water pump. Tune it. Drive it. Love it.

Ditto that, shouldnt be any reason to strip the engine further, the bottom end should still be good. Pull the thermostat and see if any impellor fragments can be felt/seen/removed through the opening....

[sledge0001]

Pull the head off and take a look at the pistons. If they are not damaged too badly then all you need to do is simply rebuild the head or buy a used head and replace it. If the pistons are mashed up you may need to consider a used or new longblock.