GSF water pump

[VR6Will 0]

has anyone had any problems with the gsf water pumps?

i fitted a new water pump when i put the engine in my mk2. This was a couple of months ago, and now the pump feels like there is play in the bearing...so much so i thought it was a big end knocking.

just curious to know if anyone else has fitted a gsf water pump and had similar problems, would there be any warranty with the pump?

[kilokilla 0]

yep there crap mate like pretty much everything they sell mate i stuck one on a vr once and it poored water out ov bearing before i even started car .but thats just my opinion i never use gsf now because i have had too many probs with them.

[VR6Will 0]

the majority of parts i've had from gsf have been ok, little annoyed as i thought the big ends had gone, so replaced them...my fault i suppose for not looking into the problem further i suppose... how much was the water pump from vw?

[andy 0]

I've got a gsf water pump, been in a couple of months with no worries. GSF are normaly good for returns, I've used hundreds of parts from them with only one duff wheel bearing so far, this was replaced foc.

[purple highline monster 0]

i still believe in "you get what you pay for" GSF and others maybe cheaper for some stuff, but there is a good reason! imo vw parts have lasted on the car so far so why de value the car? imo or increase the chance of failure and doing a job twice! the metals and castings on most replacement parts are far lower quality from my experience of them, but obviously budget etc come into play with some people, but if you end up doing it twice, in the case of a water pump its agro and extra cost of more coolant, more time and more grief! and false economy.

[kilokilla 0]

Well said Phm i couldnt agree with you more on that 1.

[andy 0]

Many of the parts GSF sell are the exactly the same ones VW sell. I've had loads of bosch parts from GSF at the fraction of the cost of the same part from VW. With GSF you are not paying for the big airy flashy showrooms that VW have, oh and the VW box! I bought a complete set of valves there last year and they were roughly a tenner each, they came out of the same factory (INA) as the VW ones that cost £25 each, multiply that by 12 and you'll see why GSF are so popular. I'm not saying all the parts are of the same quality, I wouldn't buy body parts fom there because they are generally inferior. I rebuilt the engine in my 205 GTi with parts from GSF and that managed further 100k hard miles before I sold it with 190 psi showing on each cylinder. Can't be all that bad.

[purple highline monster 0]

i wasnt knocking all their stuff andy bosch bits etc are all the same! just a bit dubious about all the claimed "oe" stuff, take brake discs and pads etc, just by looking at them you can tell they are inferior even if they are pagid etc, they make them with different pad material and they squeel like bastards!, no one will knock money saving ever! but i still prefer to get genuine, i trust the stuff, ok.... and coz i used to work at my local dealers i still get a bit of discount i can say hand on heart, i would still buy there even if i didnt though, things like radiators and stuff like that i dont mind buying elsewhere, as they all have to be made pretty well in the first place!!

[VR6Will 0]

i've generally not had a problem with gsf parts, hence why i bought the water pump from them, its only 3months old and done approx 3-4kmiles, but play in the bearing this early makes me think, it was a one off manufacturing fault or something on my engine has made it go quicker than it should have....thoughts?

[andy 0]

i wasnt knocking all their stuff andy :-)

I know mate :-)

There is no more highly recomended pads than the Pagid FR on the Corrado Forum funnily enough' date=' as sold by GSF. Better than VW standard brake pads is the general opinion. Someone recently said VW pads are actually made by Pagid although I don't know if thats true yet, it wouldn't surpise me. I know VW stuff is top quality, money and time no object I'd probably go genuine every time, but only because although a lot of GSf stuff is genuine not [b']all is. Also VW seem to want several days to get even the silliest little part in and a lot of their parts staff are clueless!

[purple highline monster 0]

granted on the time vw take to get stuff sometimes! usually 2 days from mine, we got old cars now padgid and durid make vw genuine pads, a few other brands crept in on the later cars aswell, cant remember the names now! i suppose the fast road pads would be better, specially designed and all that, it was the supposed oe ones they sell i meant, the other issue i have with GSF.... is there isnt one any where near me!! or i would probably buy SOME things from them!!

[badboyV6 4]

I agree that some parts are inferior, but even the parts that VW use are sometimes show to be faulty after a few thousand miles. How many warantee claims did VW have on the mk3 golf? Id imagine quite a few! Only difference here is that VW replaced the part free of charge, whereas unfortunately if you buy it and get it fitted- you'll have to take it back out again- get a refund, and replace it.

Mind you there is no excusing those crappy GSF ignition leads- from memory they were supposed to be oem- had them on my old vr6 for about 3 days and they started arcing out... awful!!!!

[andy 0]

I've got GSF leads on my Corrado VR6 and they've managed 20k miles so far without missing a beat. I would have preferred genuine ones given everything people have said about GSF ones but they are absolutely fine and at £50 a set I wouldn't hesitate to use another set on another car. I've also got GSFs Beru plugs which are about £1.50 each, absolutely fine, the car pulls like an absolute b*stard.

[petervr6 0]

you alway will get a bad one what ever you buy. and ye i did my water oump about 2000k ago went to vw to get think it was 56quid didnt have it in stock so i said ok how long to get it thinking next day 5day order done a local stock search no had one so had to go gsf car parts got it there think i oayed 30quid for it 2000k later seems ok touch wood.lol

[antera309 3]

I fitted a GSF water pump this year and it's been fine, 5,000 miles later. I'm sure they do occasionally sell duff ones though - they change suppliers quite often so quality control can vary.

If you do get a water pump bearing failure, check that your water pump pulley isn't bent or out of "true" (this is seen a "wobble" when the engine is running). A wobbling pulley exerts axial force on the pump bearings and this will knacker them pretty quickly.

[TVR6 0]

A local mechanic I use for oil changes and small repairs insist that patent parts have to reach OE quality standards. I don't know how they meet these standards, surely some kind of testing must be carried out before they receive certification?

Re the GSF HT leads. They do burn out/arc fast. I bought a set a little over a year ago and within 2 months a couple fo them had started arcing. Took them back and got a refund. The guy behind the counter was honest and said 'they're crap mate, they burn out fast'.