I found a post I made back in 2005 about a noisy and vibrating water pump on my 2002 MB. I remember I tried the various suggested fixes, but to no avail. I just put up with it until a few years later it developed a leak and I had it replaced. Now the water pump on my 2017 MB has started getting noisy and vibrating. I’ve attached an audio of the noise. Is this noise really just an indication of a failing water pump?
I cannot get the MP3 to play.
Water pumps are expendables; they wear out and will fail on a Saturday night when you are 100 miles or more from a replacement. Many of us carry a spare.
Larry
Mine went out a year or so ago in a convience-challenged location. Location was not so convenience-challenged that Amazon couldn't find it. Earlier this year I decided to save some money and rebuild the old one. The kits to rebuild it cost within $10 of a new one. That's 2 Starbucks. Skipped the coffee and bought a new one, tucked away in the rig.
YMMV
Joel
Expect the pump to fail. It will not disappoint you. My 2013 is on its third pump.
I not only carry a spare, but I installed valves on both sides of the pump to facilitate quick replacement out in the boonies. If you don’t value the tidiness of valves, you could use a visegrip to clamp off each side in a pinch. (Pun intended.)
Thanks for the replies. We are on our way back to Michigan from a month long trek through Canada to Acadia. I’ll be adding water pump replacement to my list of “things to do.”
We had this same thing happen to us, on a camping trip, about six weeks into owning our 2015 Mid Bath. We called Todd at the mothership , who contacted the manufacturer, who overnighted us a new pump. He said the manufacturer suggested that in order to limp along until it arrived we could back out the washers on each of the six screws on top, one at a time, replacing each screw immediately without the washer, each in pattern screw # 1 then screw # 6, then # 2 followed by # 5, then # 3 and finally # 4.
This is infinitely easier if you remove the four screws that hold in the brown power center box, and slide it out, supporting it on a small block of 2 x 4, or a hiking boot! Because we did know that, I had to do it , since my hands are much smaller than Don's, however I had to lay on my back, in order to get enough leverage to unscrew the screws.
All this was the perfect solution, and that pump is still working perfectly today, while the replacement sits in a cabinet waiting to be needed. It seems that the screws are about a thread or so too short.
Hope this helps,
Tery & Don
On Sep 30, 2025, at 14:24, Glenn Lambert
I couldn’t get the MP3 to play either. I purchased a spare shortly after acquiring Nocona in 2020. My pump started failing last year so it was replaced with the spare. At that time, an isolation valve was added between the FW tank and pump to facilitate future changeouts (highly recommended!). I still need to buy a new spare.
I couldn’t get the MP3 to play either.
I took a video of the noisy and shaking water pump on my iPhone and tried attaching it to my post. I couldn’t export it into a format or size that would be accepted by this website. I tried exporting just the audio in mp3 format but apparently that didn’t work either.
We had this same thing happen to us, on a camping trip, about six weeks into owning our 2015 Mid Bath. We called Todd at the mothership , who contacted the manufacturer, who overnighted us a new pump. He said the manufacturer suggested that in order to limp along until it arrived we could back out the washers on each of the six screws on top, one at a time, replacing each screw immediately without the washer, each in pattern screw # 1 then screw # 6, then # 2 followed by # 5, then # 3 and finally # 4.
This is infinitely easier if you remove the four screws that hold in the brown power center box, and slide it out, supporting it on a small block of 2 x 4, or a hiking boot! Because we did know that, I had to do it , since my hands are much smaller than Don's, however I had to lay on my back, in order to get enough leverage to unscrew the screws.
All this was the perfect solution, and that pump is still working perfectly today, while the replacement sits in a cabinet waiting to be needed. It seems that the screws are about a thread or so too short.
Hope this helps,
Tery & Don
Thanks you guys! And thanks for the heads up about removing the power center for better access. The space IS cramped.
Can you describe the sound? Is it like a pulsating sound as if the pump is turning on and off?
It’s a steady rattling sound while the water is running. I tried another method to record the sound - see attachment.
Sorry to say, That's a failed water pump.
Sorry to say, That's a failed water pump.
Yeah, sounds like the noise mine was making-just kept running.
I've had to adjust my SurFlo several times and on our last trip it started making the noise. Anyhow, I went back to the one I used to use in our previous rigs. More expensive but in my experience, an excellent pump. (AquaJet (https://www.amazon.com/dp/B004RCSLFS?ref=ppx_yo2ov_dt_b_fed_asin_title)) This baby is really quiet.
jor
A quieter pump would be nice. Did you have to make any modifications to replace the Shurflo?
Did you have to make any modifications to replace the Shurflo?
It's larger than the SurFlo so I mounted it at an angle. I also bought 10' for drinking hose and redid those. Not really necessary as you can substitute a 90 degree fitting for the OEM straight fitting and it will work. However, I wanted to mount the filter up and out of the way.
jor
Thanks for the replies. We are on our way back to Michigan from a month long trek through Canada to Acadia. I’ll be adding water pump replacement to my list of “things to do.”
So I replaced the water pump. Pulling out the converter sure made replacement a lot easier! I'll keep the old pump as an emergency spare if needed.