I am finally getting around to fixing the coolant leak on my LR3, I have been checking prices from Amazon, Lucky8, FCS Euro, Merriam Land Rover, Rock Auto and Atlantic British. Merriam was $235 plus shipping for the OEM. Amazon had a MOCA brand for $35.99. Rockauto had a Gates with lifetime warranty for $54. Lucky8 had one foru $43. BP Utah had an OEM for $299.

I noticed that several of the water pumps came with the regular wide gasket, either metal or fiber and some came with an additional O-Ring. I don't recall seeing or using that large O-Ring when doing these water pumps in the past. (Maybe that is why mine is leaking now) Should I be using a gasket and an O-Ring when installing the Water Pump. If so, where does the O-Ring install?

To all the Vets, thank you for your service.

Thanks,
Phil

2005 LR3
2006 Range Rover Sport HSE
2010 Range Rover Sport HSE

 

Depends on the design. The o-ring has a groove that is sits in on the pump itself and provides a seal between the part of the pump that inserts and the block. The gasket is then essentially a backup for the main orifice and primarily seals the inlet/outlet. But I dont recall an o-ring on mine either, so could you maybe be looking at V6 versus V8 designs?

As for which brand, OEM is pretty good of course. These pumps dont seem to have a high failure rate. But lots of people say the AC Delco pump is a good alternative and its what I went with. Its a once piece design (not split with a gasket between both halves). The gasket that comes with it is metal. Overall a good pump. I did not install mine though, thought I had a noisy pump but it was fine. So its on standby as a spare, OEM pump still in place.

 

No Oring on mine either when I replaced it. Metal gasket torqued to 7 ft lbs I think it was. I put BritPart in there

 

We pulled the year-old water pump from our 2005 LR3. It was installed about a year ago. It started leaking a couple months after it was installed. When we pulled it last week, it showed that it was leaking from the seam of the front and back part of the water pump, not from the gasket between the water pump and the block.

We installed a life-time guaranteed AC Delco one-piece designed water pump. We will see how long this one lasts. It was around $60 delivered, vs $400 plus from the dealer.

Phil