I do not believe that a coolant flush of the proper coolant causes or prevents a water pump failure. I believe that wrong incompatible coolant anti-corrosion chemicals damage the elastomer seals in the coolant system including the packing of the water pump.
The mechanical water pump is quite conventional except that it does not have an adjustable packing. ALL mechanical water pumps packing seals are lubricated and cooled by the pumped liquid weeping / leaking through the packing.
Bearing life in entirely a matter of load on the bearings.
I***8217;m at ~92K miles and will have the idler pulley bolt recall performed in a few weeks that requires the same access as the WP and I am on the horns of that dilemma. I have no evidence of failing bearings or packing on the existing pump and am loathe to fix / replace what ain***8217;t broke and may be the exceptional lifetime water pump. We***8217;ll see.
In my work, proper adjustment of mechanical packing was a very contentious issue. We had four 200 Hp multistage 600# discharge pumps from which we collected the leak off water to sell as unmetered bathing water. It was free while everything was fine and 25-cents a gallon while we were on water hours.
"I believe that wrong incompatible coolant anti-corrosion chemicals damage the elastomer seals in the coolant system including the packing of the water pump."
Anecdotally, I've come to the conclusion that water pump failures were common on early N52/N51 engines but are not so common on later builds. I have 125K on mine.
I'm also convinced that "common" failures aren't as common as the stories you read on the internet will lead you to believe.
EX. I have a 2003 R53 which I bought new. According to the internet this is the most unreliable car on the planet. Not mine apparently, it's been pretty reliable.
I had an E46 with 140K on the original cooling system (water pump, radiator, expansion tank, hoses, etc.) This is IMPOSSIBLE if you head over the E46 section of this forum.
I'm not that lucky of a person to be an outlier in these regards.
As for flushing the system, I've read some pretty wonky tech articles on organic acid corrosion inhibitors in automotive coolant (like BMW coolant). It's very different from old school corrosion inhibitors, the electrolytes don't degrade or get consumed over time so there's no real need to flush the system regularly (GM dexcool is an exception).
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