Well this was a close one.

Wife had been complaining of a weird sound coming from the engine bay, as well as poor gas mileage. The only suspect part I had in the engine bay was the cheap Chinese-made Gates brand water pump I installed 40k miles prior (3-4 years ago). It was included in their TCKWP timing belt kit.

Well today I broke the entire thing down and found this pump very difficult to turn by hand. The funny thing was, after turning it by hand a little bit, it began dribbling coolant everywhere. I was shocked. Looks like Jesus was watching over this one cause this pump seemed really close to seizing up entirely. If that happened while driving, you can be sure the timing belt would burn up........and bye bye motor. After pulling the pump out, I found it had been leaking for some time. There was lots of blue-coolant buildup from the weep-holes both top & bottom, and all down the dribble path in the block.

I swapped the Gates-junk pump out for a new OEM one (Honda = Yamada North America, also called YNA) made in Japan. Now it sounds smooth as ever. Hopefully we dodged a bullet with this one.

I'm still a firm believer Gates brand Timing Belts as they are the OE supplier for all of Honda's Timing belts (including the TL). Just avoid their cheap-o water pumps.

 

This is why Aisin TB kit > Gates.

 

The only good kit is the Aisin kit. All other kits have some form of chinese parts in them.

 

^^^^ Anecdotal experience. I have almost 100K miles on the Gates water pump.... runs like a champ. I'll buy a Gates kit again, no questions asked Again, another anecdotal experience.

 

You might have one Aisin water pump fail in 100,000 units. You might have 3 out of 10 gates chinese water pumps fail. Why take the chance knowing you are likely to have a major catastrophe if your wp fails? That is everyones own decision. Hopefully you make the choice that makes sense to you.

My numbers are made up but adhere to many years of hearing hundreds of people complain about gates wp and exactly zero complaints on the Aisin wp.

 

OEM timing kit is the only way to go.

One time I was testing the oem water pump to see if it will last until the second timing belt change. Well, guess what... it did. Over 200k on one OEM water pump. And that's a fact jack.

Gates belts are oe supplier to many vehicle manufactures. One of few aftermarket companies you can trust.

 

The Aisin kit IS OEM. Same parts without the Honda name on the package. Our mechanic, Paul in NJ, ONLY recommends the Aisin kit for the timing belt/water pump job. The OEM supplier of the serpentine belt is Bando.
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^ Yes correct. Amazon has Aisin kits. The last one I bought was $225.

 

They're $174.79 on rockauto.com. That's a $50 difference!
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They must of been out of stock cause all I saw at the time was off brands.

 

Quit passing this erroneous information around. It's simply not true when you are talking about Hondas. While Aisin is the OEM manufacturer of Honda timing-belt-tensioners and some Honda oil-pumps (like my 04 Pilot), they DO NOT MANUFACTURE HONDA WATER PUMPS OR TIMING BELTS. Honda water pumps are made by Yamada North America (YNA). Aisin kits also DO NOT INCLUDE AN OEM TIMING BELT. Instead they use Mitsuboshi timing belts. The OEM Honda timing belts are made by Gates-Unitta.....NOT Mitsuboshi.

Aisin is the manufacturer for Toyota water pumps, and Mitsuboshi is the manufacturer for Toyota timing belts. So while the kit is completely OEM for some brands, it is not for Honda.

That being said, I am installing a complete Aisin timing-belt water-pump kit on my brothers Civic. Aisin water pump looks fantastic and is made in Japan.

If you want ALL OEM, get the Gates TCK kit (no water pump), that Aisin-brand tensioner, OEM Honda/Yamada water pump, and Mitsuboshi-brand serpentine belts. This is the truth.

 

Gates water pump failing - replace with Aisin or Yamada (Honda OEM)?

 

Well then perhaps you could explain Paul's showing me 2 water pumps, an original he took out of a TL that had BOTH the Honda and Aisin names on it, and the replacement that just had the Aisiin name on it. Stamped names aside, damn if I could tell the difference. The serpentine belts are from multiple suppliers.
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Perhaps you imagined it.

 

^ 94eg!, How do you know this is true and please provide some kind of conclusive evidence if possible please?

 

94eg!, I believe you are wrong and you are the one spreading rumors.

For accusing us wrongly, I think you owe us an apology.

Thank you in advance.

 

Don't think so !
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Not true, go on Amazon and search for the Gates timing belt kit then read the reviews. There is a shop owner on there that reported 30% Gates pump failures. I think you got very lucky.

 

What could you possibly be contesting here as "not true"??

 

Water pump made by Yamada (YNA) says YNA & Honda on it and also says Yamda in the parts list: OEM Acura TL 2005 WATER PUMP parts




Timing belt is called out on the parts list as being made by Unitta, and says Unitta on it. Unitta is Gates brand name in the Asian market: OEM Acura TL 2005 CAMSHAFT - TIMING BELT parts





Both brand kits and Honda bags include Koyo brand rollers and Aisin hydraulic tensioner so no contest there. Though the tensioner in the Honda bag does not have the Aisin stamp underneath, the castings are completely identical.

I'll be changing my original TL water pump in a month or so, so I'll keep an eye out for an Honda/Aisin water pump. If it's not YNA, I'll make a nice side-by-side comparison.

 

^ Thanks for the explanation, very well put. You only made one minor mistake in say that "Aisin is the OEM manufacturer of Honda timing-belt-tensioners and some Honda oil-pumps (like my 04 Pilot), they DO NOT MANUFACTURE HONDA WATER PUMPS". That is what I notice. Here are pics of the aisin honda water pump.









My guest is they source multiple venders at once.

 

How do you know whom the original supplier of the water pump was when our cars were built? They might have changed it ya know. It happens. The castings on my original water pipe, I mean pump looked too much like the Aisin to not be identical. The Aisin kit also included Koyo bearings, so I think we've about beaten this topic to death.

 

Ah very nice. Thank you for posting photos of your older P8A water pump. I've been on here since 06 and have never seen an actual Aisin/Honda water pump (and I certainly have looked). Thanks for the photo. Now I feel better about putting one in my brother's Civic.

So then this beg's the question....Is there such a thing as a Honda/Mitsuboshi OEM timing belt? I've not seen such a part either. Every one I've ever seen says Unitta on it.

If we look closely at the current TL 19200-RDV-J01 water pump, it's says it replaces 3 previous pumps (19200-RCA-A01, 19200-RDM-A01, 19200-RDM-A02). This would certainly explain the multiple suppliers. But when it comes to the 14400-RCA-A01 timing belt, it stands on it's own.

 

Read my post again....

As far as the idiots on Amazon, most of them report leaking, not failure. I wouldn't be the least bit surprised if they dorked up the gasket when installing and/or over torqued the water pump bolts, which caused the leaking.

Hehe, someone who knows how to read

 

^ LOL.

A leak in a cooling system is a failure by any standard.

There are very few situations in which one can ruin a motor faster than a leaking cooling system.

One such thing is a hole in the oil pan.

 

My 04 had an Aisin water pump from the factory.... just sayin.

 

So where are the mitsuboshi OEM timing belts? Perhaps this statement above is still wrong. Even the Toyota ones i could find photos of all say Unitta on them.

Honda also lists their current serpentine belt as Mitsuboshi: OEM Acura TL 2005 A/C COMPRESSOR parts

 

All that matters is that the Aisin kit parts are all Japanese. To this day, it's still the only kit that Paul, our mechanic in NJ recommends. Bando is also Japanese.

Can we please stop beating this thread to death now?

 

I'm confused. Does it matter it's OEM or does it matter it's Japanese now? Or does it just have to come from NJ?

 

Bottom line, just don't use the water pump from the Gates kit, which leads to, why even get the Gates kit if you are just going to dump the pump? Just get the Aisin kit.

 

Yes, and those idiots caused the leak by poor installation procedures, as I surmised....

 

Yeah, it has to come from NJ because the only good water pumps are manufactured in NJ.
And being Head a Da Family her in Jerzy, I oughta know!
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Well....You can buy the Gates kit without the waterpump (TCK329), which includes the Koyo rollers for $54. The Aisin BTH-001 tensioner is another $56. Then all you need is the water pump. New Honda/YNA pumps sell between $60 & $90 on ebay, or you can buy the Aisin WPH-801 pump for $64.

This gives you a 100% OEM package which is what most of us seem to be after here, for only $174 (same price as the Aisin kit with a non-oem timing belt).

 

Your surmise have a fatal flaw. Someone capable of replacing a timing belt is certainly qualified to change a water pump. Which concist of a O-ring and few bolts.

The part is failing not human error.

 

I'm not finding Yamada 19200-RDV-J01 on ebay for the price you said, but lots of poser water pumps for way less.

 

The seller I've used twice (whathonda on ebay) for the Honda pumps currently has no listings. Sorry. Perhaps try contacting him for current deals. You can always find Aisin pumps on RockAuto for the price I mentioned.

 

How do you know the people leaving bad reviews on Amazon are even capable of tying their shoes, let alone a timing belt? How do you know they're even being written by a real "shop owner"? You guys are throwing around random Amazon reviews like they're the results of a five year study by SAE International.

 

^How does one "know" anything? lol

 

Yep...

 

I can ask you the same question, how do you know they're not capable, not a shop owner?

Not everyone is a lier.

Inorder for the water pump to leak that means someone capable replaced the timing belt... just guessing lol.