[SanDiegoCharger]

My wife has a 2016 Charger R/T with about 17K miles. Dealer says water pump is on its way out. Also says MOPAR pumps are on "perpetual backorder." If he is correct this might indicate a common problem. Anyone out there have or heard of any water pump problems?

Back to the dealer he said he's going to get permission from Chrysler to install an "aftermarket" pump. If they give the OK, and he get one, he says the warranty won't be effected. Am I correct in assuming when dealer says "aftermarket" it means "rebuilt?"

 

[SRT8 Mike]

Aftermarket does not mean rebuilt. Just not made by Dodge. With all the problems they have with there pumps you’re probably better off.

 

[Rockster]

My wife has a 2016 Charger R/T with about 17K miles. Dealer says water pump is on its way out. Also says MOPAR pumps are on "perpetual backorder." If he is correct this might indicate a common problem. Anyone out there have or heard of any water pump problems?

Back to the dealer he said he's going to get permission from Chrysler to install an "aftermarket" pump. If they give the OK, and he get one, he says the warranty won't be effected. Am I correct in assuming when dealer says "aftermarket" it means "rebuilt?"

Wednesday stopped in at the local Dodge dealer to have my Hellcat's oil changed. Pulled up along side a nice white R/T Scat Pack. As I was shutting down my car preparing to go inside the to book it in for the oil change I spotted water vapor coming out from under the front hood.

Upon getting out of my car I spotted a nice stream of coolant running out from under the front of the car.

Inside I spoke with the owner. He said the water pump just failed as he was driving by the dealer, but admitted the water pump had been making noise for some time prior to actually leaking coolant.

Mileage? 20K.

Water pumps can fail at any time but 20K (or 17K) miles is a bit early, premature. This suggests there is a problem with the water pumps these cars, at least some of them, leave the factory with. A batch of water pumps left the water pump factory with sub-par bearings or seals or some other defect in design, material, or manufacture that leads to a premature failure.

If OE water pumps are on back order this suggests a whole lot of water pumps left the factory unable to deliver a suitably long service life.

Get the aftermarket water pump installed. Try to take a pic of it before it is installed and post the pic and the part # too and any other details. I am curious to know more about the aftermarket water pump.

Then just like the a factory water pump was in the engine resume enjoying your car. But always pay some attention to the car and the engine and if you hear a noise or smell anti-freeze or see signs of coolant leak don't delay but get this looked into pronto.

 

[SanDiegoCharger]

So, my wife speaks to the service advisor. He tells her there are several aftermarket pumps available and, if we like, he'll install whichever brand we like. Nice offer, I guess, but I think it's best to have him make the call, especially if there are problems down the road. Car still sitting at the dealer this weekend while waiting for Chrysler "approval."

 

[cdahl383]

My water pump failed on my 2010 R/T at 65,000 miles. It sounded horrible, the bearings were just chewing themselves up. I checked the pulleys and I could move the water pump pulley quite a bit. I had it fixed before it failed, probably didn't have much longer to go.

I had a 2003 Chevy S10 pickup that had 145,000 miles on it when I sold and still had the stock water pump on it. I think the water pumps on these cars are pretty sad. You hear about this a lot. Clearly there is a problem, yet year after year it continues, you'd think they'd change their supplier or something.

I'm at 20K miles on my 2015 Challenger and so far so good, but I'll definitely be keeping an eye on it. If there are better aftermarket versions that would be something to look into. The OEM ones seem to suck in many cases.

 

[ChallyTatum]

Dodge water pumps definitely have a short lifespan

http://www.challengertalk.com/forums/f188/65-000-miles-3-water-pumps-590241/?590241=#post7599097

 

[Rockster]

Just FYI, if a water pump is making noise, leaking, it has *failed*. All it can do if left in service is to deteriorate and possibly wreck further havoc on the engine.

One concern is with any bearing play the impellers contact the block and this can result in water pump (and block) metal debris being circulated through out the engine's cooling system. Larger pieces could possibly block coolant flow through the tighter coolant passages in the heads. (In some engines as the head is cast tubes are located in the mold that direct a "jet" of coolant at hot spots. While the entire coolant passage is filled with coolant still this tube causes coolant to flow with more force at the hot spot and this helps dislodge/prevent the build up of a steam pocket.

So my advice is if one hears any noise from the water pump, detects any leak sign, to arrange to get the car in ASAP and get the water pump (and T-stat) replaced. In the case of one of my previous cars after I had confirmed the water pump was the source of the noise I didn't even drive the car the 25 miles to the dealer but instead arranged to have the car flat bedded to the dealer. In that 25 miles the water pump could have gone from noisy to shredding itself against the block. (The water pump had a plastic impeller too, which is even more prone damage from contact with the block, and putting plastic debris in the cooling system.)

 

[marielauber]

My wife has a 2016 Charger R/T with about 17K miles. Dealer says water pump is on its way out. Also says MOPAR pumps are on "perpetual backorder." If he is correct this might indicate a common problem. Anyone out there have or heard of any water pump problems?

Back to the dealer he said he's going to get permission from Chrysler to install an "aftermarket" pump. If they give the OK, and he get one, he says the warranty won't be effected. Am I correct in assuming when dealer says "aftermarket" it means "rebuilt?"

Yes, very common problem it seems. My 2013 Charger was at the dealership for 6 consecutive plus months because the every time they replaced the water pump it failed. I filed a lawsuit with Chrysler to receive cash out payment. As of October 8, 2019, my Charger is on water pump number 8. Number 7 and 8 were from O'Reilly's. What keeps happening is the propellers are plastic and they keep breaking off some how and the pump fails. It's like the car is eating itself. I only wish I could figure out what the Charger is doing to the water pump.
Best wishes to you!

 

[ChallyTatum]

8 pumps!!!

 

[daly double]

2014 RT Shaker....100,000 miles...on my 3rd Water Pump....never leaked but would always make a terrible grinding noise when going out...

 

[ChallyTatum]

Interesting that mopar magazine details how to replace the water pump on V8s...wonder if they know it is not uncommon to fail early so they are writing instructions on how to replace it?

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