Water Pump Failure.

[Matlock]

Halfway into a pleasant, but cold, ride through the Forest of Bowland this morning, an odd smell led me to some staining on the catalytic converter. The water pump was dripping from the weep hole. So I had a steady ride back home, keeping an eye on things. By the time I got home, it was worse, dripping every 30 seconds or so. The replacement assembly is going to cost me £280, plus £24 to replace the coolant I only changed back in March  . The good news is that Fowlers have them in stock, so I should be back on the road later this week and it looks a fairly straightforward job to fit, although bleeding the coolant system is a long-winded process. At least I won't need to flush out the old coolant this time 
Is this a common issue? It's a 2012 bike, with just 24k miles on it.

[Matlock]

Here's a couple of pics of the culprit:

[DE65Y]

I would imagine that, if they are keeping a stock then, they know they're going to sell them!

[Matlock]

  Yes, that's what I thought when I saw they had three in stock 

[Matlock]

I replaced the pump this evening, only about three hours work all in. There's two points to bear in mind if you have to do this yourself:
1. The workshop manual states the coolant capacity is 3.67 litres. This must include briming the expansion tank as I've changed the coolant twice now on this bike and have never got more than 2.3 litres in it, excluding the expansion tank  .
2. The workshop manual helpfully omits the fact that when you pull the water pump out from the side of the engine, you'll lose about half a pint of oil which will go all over the catalytic converter if you're not ready to catch it. I wasn't ready to catch it 

Disregarding the two points above, this isn't a difficult job for the home mechanic if you follow the manual, the replacement pump includes everything you'll need and arrives fully assembled.

P.S. Fowlers rang me after I ordered the pump with a minor query about my order, while the guy was on I asked him if this was a part they sold a lot of. He said it looked like it as it is listed on their system as a part that they always try and keep at least 3 in stock.

[mzflorida]

Thanks for that tip!  Glad that you have it sorted.   

[Jfro5867]

I have used Fowler's and had a good experience. Nice to see them stocking some useful stuff too and not just putting items on back order. Useful to know that changing the water pump went well too.