Coolant replacement in my 2007 Silverado

[gammafrench]

Hello all,

 

I have a 2007 Silverado, 5.3L with 73500 miles. It's never had a coolant change before, so I plan on doing this soon. I'm going to go ahead and replace the lower and upper hoses as well and the belts. The current ones look fine, but I feel this is inexpensive insurance.

 

My question is: Should I change the water pump/thermostat too? The only water pump problems I've ever had was years ago on a 1976 Matador so in my experience they're pretty reliable. However, I would rather swap it out while I'm doing the coolant change than have problems down the road and have to do this job all over again. A few years ago I changed a timing belt in my wife's Kia and changed the water pump on it as well, only because it was a recommended procedure while having the cover housing, harmonic balancer, etc., all off the engine.

 

Any thoughts and experiences shared would be appreciated.

 

Thanks,

 

Gamma

 

[Jsdirt]

I still haven't done my '07 yet - 76,5xx miles. My line of thought is, usually something will fail (hose, water pump, t-stat) before the coolant gets so bad that it's going to damage anything. Plus where I live, the engine always outlasts the vehicle it's in, no matter how much maintenance is neglected.

 

I'm also a strong believer in "if it ain't broke, don't fix it" - you've probably got another 4- 5 years left on that pump .... maybe more ... maybe less, but no sense replacing something like that just because. Hoses I can see, but not a water pump. When it does take a dump it's super easy to replace. Parts usually get cheaper with age in the automotive world as well.

[txab]

If the pump is not leaking then leave it alone. Replace t-stat. Be sure and replace ALL hoses while you're at it

[kstruckcountry]

I wouldn't worry about the pump. It's actually pretty easy to replace when you do need to.