Thoughts on whether I should proactively replace the water pump in my 2003 Monte 3.4 LS? Only 62K miles and is very well maintained since I bought it in '06 with less than 10K on the odometer. I usually drive it just around town and once or twice a year take it upstate. I'm asking about this since - being mostly retired now - I want to drive it more on 300+ mile day trips. Love the car for so many reasons.

 

Well for reference... Im at 204k on the original water pump and in my 02 ls (when I had it) I replaced the water pump at like 160k. I dont think there would be any reason to replace it unless it fails. It wont prolong the life of any other components.

Other components of the cooling system should be inspected, however. That dexcool crap really likes to eat away at stuff.

 

That's what I was hoping to hear, thank you. Figured it'd be good to ask about just based on the car's age, even though the engine/drivetrain is low miles.

Having the cooling system flushed again today. Good to know about the Dexcool issue. Again, thanks so much for your help, really appreciated.

 

I agree. Theres also plenty of other rubber, plastic, and seals that break down over time that could be lumped in for proactive replacement to further reduce your chance of a breakdown on a long trip, but its an awful expensive route to head down.

Personally, I'd just inspect everything externally the best you can for leaks and aging and just drive it. No doubt you'll have an elevated chance of break down due to the age, but even a brand new car doesn't have a 100% chance of a successful trip. You just want to minimize that chance as much as possible.

 

"inspect everything externally the best you can for leaks and aging"

Every time I bring the car to my tech he gets reminded to "put it on the lift and do a visual on EVERYTHING down there." LOL

p.s. Pretty funny that this car has way less issues than my wife's 2009 Mercedes ML350 with 65K.

 

I agree, no need to replace the water pump. The ones on the 3100/3400 tend to last 100k+ miles. NOW, if you were to tell me you were going to drain the coolant, replace hoses, I would probably say replace the bump since the coolant is drained (pump is a cheap change, like $30ish for the part and 30-60 minutes of work to DIY it). That is when I changed the pump on my 2004 Grand Am, while doing other routine maintenance because I drained the cooling system (and I bought the car with like 120k miles and no idea if that was a factory pump or not).