Woo hoo! It's alive again!

[Detlef]

Last week I was caught by the dreaded water pump failure on my 2001 GTS. Had all the symptoms I read about on the board so I called Mr. Tator. Thank you Wizard for getting me the parts so fast.

Because of all the closures our surviving local Dodge dealership here is very backed up so could only get in today to have the Viper tech change out the water pump.

Feels good to be driving the snake again with the temp back in the normal range.

 

[GTS1997]

How much did that cost, including labor, if you don't mine? Justwant to know what I'll be paying if mine goes. You can pm the answer if you want. Thanks!

 

[Detlef]

It was 2 hours of labor at Dodge to install the waterpump. I am guessing labor rates vary from State to State. The waterpump prices keep creeping up so if you have a 2001, you may want to buy the part now for when it fails.

 

[RTTTTed]

How many miles? I've got 49,000 now and am not expecting any failures, even with the extra belt tension of the Supercharger.

Ted

 

[Detlef]

25K miles. Maybe you'll be one of the lucky ones. It was clear after removal that the impeller shaft was spinning on itself.

 

[RTTTTed]

You mean the impeller and the shaft were no longer bonded?

Usually the bearings or seal go.

Thanks

Ted

 

[Detlef]

Yes, something like that. A bunch of 2001's have pumps that weren't manufactured correctly by the supplier. At least that is what I have read and heard.

 

[dave6666]

I changed mine while it was still working well. $250 new OEM part. $0 labor.

 

[RTTTTed]

Interesting. I have a Sapphire/silver '01, Leslie, All Blue and Joe Christopherson also have Sapphire GTSs. You'd thing that they'd all have failed if that was an issue.

I've read a couple threads that were complaints of water pumps, but this is the first one that stated that '01 had a problem.

Something I'll keep in mind - and ask people about.

Ted

 

[plumcrazy]

a bunch of 01's have had issues. ask tator about it.

 

[EllowViper]

Mine went at 14K...01 GTS. I guess maybe Yellow 01's are just too "hot" for that stock impeller...

 

[TAXIMAN1]

I've owned (5) 2001 Vipers, and was told this issue is blown way, out of proportion. Never had an issue on any of them.

 

[PatentLaw]

I have not had the issue, but have seen it posted many times on the website.

 

[Detlef]

Well it is a real problem with some 2001's. My 2002 never had any issues. And my 2001 didn't until now. Symptoms were classic spinning impeller shaft. Under load, engine temp would quickly move up to the max and then go back down at lower loads.

Thanks to reading this board for a while, I was able to call Tator, get the new water pump and tell the Viper tech what the problem was. He showed me the old pump and demonstrated the problem as confirmation.

Blown out of proportion or not, it is a real problem for some of us 2001 owners.

 

[TAXIMAN1]

Blown out of proportion or not, it is a real problem for some of us 2001 owners.

I'm sure it is... This is just something I heard from a Tech. who has worked on hundreds of Vipers. I guess I was lucky.