Hello all,

Im slowly working on replacing my head gaskets (83 1.9L vanagon) and
while I have the engine half disassembled, I've been looking at what I
can clean or replace for moderate cost to improve the
life/happiness/general running of my tempermental (and often
temperaturential) van.  I recently pulled off the waterpump and had been
thinking of replacing it, as I've had various coolant leak/running
warm-hot/eating coolant issues and want to make sure all components of
the coolant system are up to par.  Visually, I can't see anything wrong
with my current waterpump.  The pulley wheel had little to no play when
rocking towards and away from the main WP body.  The only thing I notice
is when turning the pulley wheel (or the mount now that the wheel has
been removed), it seems to be a not very smooth rotation.  That is, it
seems like there is a good deal of friction in the rotation (not that
there is any detectable grinding or rough spots).  Otherwise, I can't
see any problems that a quick cleaning wouldn't fix.  Should I bother
replacing this $50 part?  Will it do anything to improve cooling other
than preventing a sooner-than-later seize of the pump?  Thanks for any
input.

aloha
Mike Braden