Some time back my father commented that friends of his no longer drove Mercedes due to continually suffering faulty water pumps. I replied that I was not aware of this being a real issue. Yes, I had replaced mine in my '73 350SLC a couple of times in the 22 years I have owned it, but I did not consider this unreasonable after around maybe 350,000km. As far as I am aware the pump in our '90 300TE is still the original at over 180,000km and my 190E had one replaced by the PO shortly before I purchased it at around 210,000km.

Not long after, the pump in my father's '93 E320 (W124 M104) at around 130,000km started leaking and I had to replace it earlier this year. My parents have just returned from a long trip in their '96 E230 (W210 M111) complaining of a rumbling noise from the front of the engine. I fixed it yesterday. You guessed it, another water pump. This one in a car that has travelled less than 120,000km that they have owned from new. All the cars have either been dealer serviced or I have more recently maintained and genuine MB coolant has always been used. My father is now convinced that MB water pumps are rubbish and I am losing confidence. Incidently, in each instance I have fitted a Laso brand pump as a replacement. For the M104 it was little more than half the price of genuine and for the M111 it was only one third the price of genuine.

What are the water pump experiences of others here?

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107.023: 350SLC, 3-speed auto, icon gold, parchment MBtex (sold 2012 after 29 years ownership).
107.026: 500SLC, 4-speed auto, thistle green, green velour.
124.090: 300TE, 4-speed auto, arctic white, cream-beige MBtex.
201.028: 190E 2.3 Sportline, 5-speed manual, arctic white, blue leather.
201.028: 190E 2.3, 4-speed auto, blue-black, grey MBtex.
201.034: 190E 2.3-16, 5-speed manual, blue-black, black leather.

Hello,
I find that the average lfe of any manufacturer's pumps can vary dramatically.
I have replace the BMW M30 w/p with boring regularity, average of three years on every car(3.0,525&635).
On Volvo 240, it has been done every 6 years or so and on an Opel Manta A, the pump would expire every 2-3 years.
Mercedes has been longer lived, the W124 260E pump ran to 180,000 miles(and 15 years) before the o-ring sprang a leak, BUt due to the difficulty in R&R, a new Laso pump was fitted, W115 200 original pump replaced after 27 years and unknown mileage(had to knock it out with a hammer!), the vanes were worn down and the thing was rattling, but only replaced when it began spewing coolant onto the road.
Having said that, the 260 will probably spring a leak this evening.................
Have a good week.

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Nachi11744

Interesting complaints.

If you check the longevity of water pumps on the domestic counterparts, you will find that many have failures much earlier than the cycles you or your father have experienced.

I replaced one on two Chevys I owned (consecutively), and neither had reached 60,000 miles...and a water pump went on my Dad's Buick at 70K!

I haven't noticed any unusual failure rate on any of my MBs...but then again, only the W124 has surpassed the 100K mark...and I replaced the water pump on that one at 120K...

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2009 ML350 (106K) - Family vehicle
2001 CLK430 Cabriolet (80K) - Wife's car
2005 BMW 645CI (138K) - My daily driver
2016 Mustang (32K) - Daughter's car

8 Mercedes
250,000km lapel pin due to driving Mercedes 250,000km+.

ZERO water pump replacements.

Always use Mercedes antifreeze, always make sure the belt tension is correct.

Dave

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1970 220D, owned 1980-1990
1980 240D, owned 1990-1992
1982 300TD, owned 1992-1993
1986 300SDL, owned 1993-2004
1999 E300, owned 1999-2003
1982 300TD, 213,880mi, owned since Nov 18, 1991- Aug 4, 2010 SOLD
1988 560SL, 100,000mi, owned since 1995
1965 Mustang Fastback Mileage Unknown(My sons)
1983 240D, 176,000mi (My daughers) owned since 2004
2007 Honda Accord EX-L I4 auto, the new daily driver
1985 300D 264,000mi Son's new daily driver.(sold)
2008 Hyundai Tiberon. Daughters new car

It seems that the early models possibly had longer lived pumps. Is this another case of a drop in quality in recent years? In my case, the newer the car, the shorter the life of the pump. Yes they have all been used only with genuine MB coolant and belt tension is assured by the automatic tensioner for the poly V belt.

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107.023: 350SLC, 3-speed auto, icon gold, parchment MBtex (sold 2012 after 29 years ownership).
107.026: 500SLC, 4-speed auto, thistle green, green velour.
124.090: 300TE, 4-speed auto, arctic white, cream-beige MBtex.
201.028: 190E 2.3 Sportline, 5-speed manual, arctic white, blue leather.
201.028: 190E 2.3, 4-speed auto, blue-black, grey MBtex.
201.034: 190E 2.3-16, 5-speed manual, blue-black, black leather.

I am also starting to see the effects of proper operating temperature on MBZ water pumps. If you let your engine get too hot for too long .... look for a water pump replacement not too far behind. (Don't ask me how I know this .... geesh!)

Haasman

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'03 E320 Wagon-Sold
'95 E320 Wagon-Went to Ex
'93 190E 2.6-Wrecked
'91 300E-Went to Ex
'65 911 Coupe (#302580)

380 K Kms M104.980 engine, original water pump.

RayH

I had to do a water pump on my '83 at about 326,000 miles. The one I pulled was stamped "Japan" so I have to believe it was the second (or subsequent) one. I've had the car 8 years and 34,000 miles, so I am not thinking the water pumps are junk.

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Whoever said there's nothing more expensive than a cheap Mercedes never had a cheap Jaguar.

83 300D Turbo with manual conversion, early W126 vented front rotors and H4 headlights 401,xxx miles
08 Suzuki GSX-R600 M4 Slip-on 26,xxx miles
88 Jaguar XJS V12 94,xxx miles. Work in progress.
99 Mazda Miata 183,xxx miles.

I was surprised when mine went at ~60K miles. M103.

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1988 300E

344644mi. same pump

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1999 w140, quit voting to old, and to old to fight, a god damned veteran, deutschland deutschland uber alles uber alles in der welt

Wow, a 9 year old thread bump!

My SD has 320k and its on its second pump, original started weeping around 215k...current pump has been great (Laso I think).

Replaced one on my dad's SD when we swapped in the engine as we had a pump on the shelf.....other than that, no failures ever, in hundreds of thousands of miles/several cars.

Pretty sure the pump on my dad's V8 is original with 308k on it..... my OM601 has an original pump with 245k or so on it....

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-diesel is not just a fuel, its a way of life-
'15 GLK250 Bluetec 118k - mine - (OC-123,800)
'17 Metris(VITO!) - 37k - wifes (OC-41k)
'09 Sprinter 3500 Winnebago View - 62k (OC - 67k)
'13 ML350 Bluetec - 95k - dad's (OC-98k)
'01 SL500 - 103k(km) - dad's (OC-110,000km)
'16 E400 4matic Sedan - 148k - Brothers (OC-155k)

I remember the first s-class MB I ever rode in - 1984 500 SEL gray-market car. It had 90k on it and was absolutely perfect. But, he said the only thing he ever had to fix was the water pump!

In my experience, the overriding factor for any water pump failure is the pulley/belt. Any small wobble in the pulley, bump in the belt, jerking in the tensioner can create excessive wear on the seal and lead to early failure.
That being said, pumps that don't have the fan blade attached to the end of the shaft "should" last longer. Belt tensioners that have little shock absorbers with "instantly hardening gromments" on the ends that rattle and bang are in for trouble (m103/104, etc). I've seen these start to bang and thump at 10k miles.
And, yes, they make some really bad aftermarket pumps.
I seem to get about 50k from my M103 pumps - Lasso seems the best I have tried.
Best advice; get a Lasso or other good brand, be sure the belt runs very smooth (just install a new one), be sure the belt tensioner and idler pulleys run smooth and the tensioner shock is good, adjust tension properly, use MB coolant, inspect for leaks/noise often.

DG

S-Class GURU you brought up a very important point that I had overlooked !

Other contributing factors to pump failure !

Indeed, these other items need to be controlled in order to insure more life out of these pumps.

Funny how my lowly 300D keeps on going with no water pump problems !!

Meanwhile my C280 fails regardless of controlling the variables..

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1979 300D 220 K miles
1995 C280 109 K miles
1992 Cadillac Eldorado Touring Coupe 57K miles SOLD
********************
1979 240D 140Kmiles (bought for parents) *SOLD.
SAN FRANCISCO/(*San Diego)
1989 300SE 148 K miles *SOLD

There may be some validity to the argument supporting mb reducing parts quality over time, including the w124.
My 87 wagon has the original water pump with 285k miles no complaints
the 94 E320 has a new to the car water pump (MB part) and it is already making bearing noises. Now this is the 2nd water pump in a total of 85K miles on a dealer serviced and proper coolant w124. The belt seems tensioned correctly and rolls smoothly with no wobble but 2 factory pumps in 87K miles seems poor quality.

I have also noticed that the E320 while being a garage queen most of it's life has more signs of surface chassis and body rust than the 87 w124 that has been sitting outside in the elements for most of it's life. While the fixtures and grade of steel used in manufacturing both series may have been the same, I think that the bean counters started skimping on things like rust-proofing and parts quality requirements as the series matured. Time will tell.

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Stable Mates:
1987 300TD 310K mi (Hans)
2008 Jeep Grand Cherokee OM642 165k mi (Benzrokee)