im am almost certain im buying a 97 ss...i took the car to a mechanic and they noticed the water pump was leaking but it looked as though it had recently started...i know the water pump often leaks on the opti and kills it, but my question is how long does it take a leaky water pump to kill the opti? the current owner is fixing the pump but i think ill have to end up fixing the opti soon after i buy the car....what do u guys think?

also should i get him to replace the water pump with an electric one or just get a regular one?

 

Go with the electric one..... If there is alot of water on the opti but it hasnt been run alot then you should be ok... if it goes through alot of hot/cool cycles then you might want to be worried. I wouldnt worry about the opti, not buying a 97 SS just for that reason i think is pretty dumb. when the water goes through the hot/cold cycles it makes the water evaporate and then the water vapors get into the opti and then when it cools down the water settles and then starts f***in up stuff. but definatly go with the electri water pump..

 

it's not that i wont get the car if i think ill have to replace the opti soon...its just that i want to know what kind of expenses im going to have in the near future...buying the car is gonna kinda tie up all my money

luckily the car is not driven much because the guy takes the metro into DC to work and it recently started leaking so i think the opti should be okay for now...thanks for the reply!

and since i already started this thread im going to ask what you guys would pay for the car...97 SS, black w/ leather, 71k miles, excellent condition with all records and window stickers, and it will have a new clutch, breaks, water pump, and tires by the time i get it

so what would you pay?

thanks

 

Dunno about the price of the car, if you have to replace the opti they are about 230. if you can do the work yourself then your fine(its not that hard just time consuming) if you have to pay someone to do it i dont know what to tell you, i have had friends pay 150 for the install to 300..... I paid 8000 for my 96Z28 fully loaded and i sold it and bought a 95 Z28 fully loaded a year later and i paid 5995 so maybe i would guess for a 97 ss anywhere from 9,000 to 12,000.

 

I would go with a stock pump.

 

you can get a rebuilt opti from autozone with a LIFETIME warrenty for a LOT cheaper.

 

why do you say that?

 

the real question is.... is that ss the lt1 or the lt4, then you might wanna think about a price...

 

JMHO. Stock pump=Less complexity, less chance of sudden stoppage, less chance that you will forget to check your temp gauge that one time and overheat (and have subsequent head gasket issues and/or worse).

Yeah, there are benefits with it and if you gotta have the extra ponies that you might get from the electric pump, then go for it. I personally don't need the extra worry.

 

i just went through what u are now, my waterpump started leaking and it went on for a few weeks until i could afford to change it and once i changed it i noticed a serious lag anywhere above 4000. the job isnt bad, you could replace it yourself its just time consuming. it cost me about 250 for the new opti altogether, expensive but worth the fix, hey if you were in the central jersey area id give ya a hand on the installation.

 

Its definately not a LT4 SS only the 30th Anniversary models (white w/orange stripes) got the LT4 engine option and only 100 of them were made. A rare find indeed. but this guy is looking at a black one with leather.

 

what he said

anyone else have any opinions on the price?

 

Agreed!..

Oh and the weep hole on the Waterpump is NOT above the Opti as everyone claims it is. Its actually directly over the Harmonic Balancer. My pump was pouring..yes directly pouring coolant out and it was directly down onto the Harmonic ..maybe it would splash around a bit and get on the opti.. but unless the opti has a bad seal I wouldnt worry about it. Anyways..

Opti took me ~ 2 1/2 hrs. Spent 160.00 at Napa for rebuild kit.
WaterPump ~ 2 hrs. Spent 50.00 at Autozone.

Not a big deal really. Stock Opti 97,000miles. Stock Waterpump ~114,000 miles. Cheers!