I see a wide range of prices for water pumps on partstrain.com. Is it necessary to go with the most expensive one? ($175) or can I go with the ones in the $100 range? My local isuzu stealership wants $280... I laughed at the guy. Thanks for reading and responding!

Nice rig!

I went with all OEM parts on mine, too many bad experiences with non-oem parts during the ownership of 2 Isuzu Rodeo's over the years.

Thanks for the compliment and thanks for the response! I called St Charles Isuzu and they want $66 for the tbelt, $175 for the water pump, $273 for the Tensioner pulley set and $87 for the pusher unit. Thats $600+ in parts alone! On the other hand, I can order parts from the place down the street from my house and pay $300 for everything. Is it absolutely necessary to do OEM parts? Any horror stories doing aftermarket parts?

The only problem I've heard of with aftermarket t-belt stuff is the t-belt itsself. The marks dont line up right on some of them.

I got everything except the tensioner at Advance. I got the tensioner at St. Charles. I think I've gone 15 or 20K without issues.