Melling and Aisin are both premium WPs. Airtex is pretty good. GMB is ok.
Reviews of GMB water pump
47 votes
I have their water pump on my Rx7, it's been A-Okay for over 3 years.
Excellent time to learn to do it yourself and buy a $65 water pump and timing belt kit. Dirty cheap for the miata. Just find a kit with a GMB water pump and a name brand belt.
I've used GMB some 10+ years ago. They were made in Japan and came with a lifetime warranty.
Sounds like your water pump is shot. The impeller is spinning on the shaft and not pushing the water. I just had a customer who had this problem. The crazy thing is, I just replaced the pump about 2 years/30K ago with a GMB pump. He had the exact same symptoms as you: car gets hot, but does not overheat, no water through the return line, and fan takes a long time before it turns on.
Write your review about water pump GMB
Help others - share your experience with this part.