It was probably 15 years ago, but I experienced short life (25,000 miles or
less) with two new aftermarket pumps (made in Italy or Spain IIRC).  I then
bought a "factory rebuilt" pump from my friendly VW dealer for something
around $160 (new OEM pumps were not available).  It had a much larger
bearing than the aftermarket pumps did.  So, maybe "rebuilt" pumps are
better as long as it's the factory OEM pump being rebuilt.

Good luck!

Stuart

-----Original Message-----
From: Vanagon Mailing List [mailto:vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com] On Behalf Of
Mark Dearing
Sent: Thursday, January 03, 2013 8:41 AM
To: vanagon@GERRY.VANAGON.COM
Subject: Re: Water Pump life on a 1.9

Question I have is are these replacement pumps new or reman? if new what is
the best brand name?  later  mark d

In a message dated 1/3/2013 9:52:48 A.M. Eastern Standard Time,
mkriley@FUSE.NET writes:

ken,
check the belts on the waterpumps I will bet you they are  the wrong size,
need9.5.
A nominal 10mm belt will require massive tension  to stop squealing and
results in bad waterpump bearings and alternator  bearings and mounts.
restrictions in the flow will not increase  waterpump radial loads but a
overtightened  belt sure  will.
mike