Water Pump Help

**thewaitinggame** · 02-15-2011

Today when I was driving home from work i noticed that smoke was coming out from under my hood that smelled like burning coolant. When I got home i popped the hood and saw that coolant must have been flung all over on the belt side of the engine. So a little hard to tell what is leaking but I'm pretty sure it's the water pump that's bad. The reason is because for a while now I have had a loud grinding type noise from the passenger side of the engine and I'm guessing its a bad bearing or pulley. I was waiting for it to warm up a little before I checked it out, most likely this weekend. So im just going to replace the water pump because my guess that's the problem. I did the lim and uim over the summer and that solved my coolant loss until now.

I looked up on here posts on how to change it out and seems pretty easy but I do have some questions. Just wanted to see if it matters what pump I buy or if anyone recommends a certain one. Im probably just going to buy it at autozone or murrys. The second question is that I found some people saying to use RTV on the engine block gasket and some saying not too, Is it a good idea to use it for a better seal? Im also going to change the upper and lower coolant hoses because they are also original and look a little wet near the clamps.

Any opinions on this will help as I've never had to buy one and dont know if all the pumps are basically the same.

Thanks

**TheOtherNick** · 02-15-2011

I rtv the waterpump gasket if it is a paper gasket, if it is rubber I dont.

**PurpleGuy** · 02-15-2011

I used it when I did mine....i would use it if i were you...you dont wanna go through the work and have it leak do you?

**sportred04** · 02-15-2011

use it i did. no leaks. sure you no but replace coolant elbows. and the 4 long bolts need some kind of sealant on them since they go into the water jacket. it simple to change the water pump. i replaced mine 2 months ago. cash was short and went with the autozone special. like 30 bucks. it was a new piece not reman. paper gasket tho.

**BillBoost37** · 02-16-2011

The FSM states the 3.8L pump is a dry install. 3.1/3.4 the instructions iwth the pump stated to RTV it.

I'm a fan of the dry install because if you have to pull it again later, you don't have to clean all the rtv off.

A light coating shouldn't hurt if you decide you want to use it.

**thewaitinggame** · 02-16-2011

ok thanks for all the replies, my grand prix is a 3.8 so sounds like I do a dry install, but maybe I'll put a little on to be safe.

Sportred04, what type of sealant do you mean for the 4 bolts? And even though my coolant elbows are about 5 months old from when I did the LIM, I should stil change them?

**BillBoost37** · 02-16-2011

You won't be near the coolant elbows. The 4 bolts that have a 13mm head, go into the coolant passages. If you don't put sealant on them, they can leak. A teflon based sealant wtih PTFE is recommended. Cheapest I've found it is in Home Depot plumbing aisle by the various solder etc.

**thewaitinggame** · 02-16-2011

Cool Bill, i will get some of that too for the bolts

**thewaitinggame** · 02-18-2011

One more question before I replace the water pump this weekend. A post or 2 mentioned what inch pound to tighten the bolts to but most other threads on this didnt mention it at all, is it necessary to have a torque wrench for this job or can I just snug the bolts up? I know not to really tighten them down to avoid a crack or broken bolt. If the opinion is to use a torque wrench, I guess I'll have to buy one.

**BillBoost37** · 02-18-2011

Proper torque would be really nice. If you have a good feel w/o breaking bolts, make then consistent and you should be set.

**thewaitinggame** · 02-18-2011

ok be best I get one to be safe

**BillBoost37** · 02-18-2011

Had a feeling you'd see it our way. Now if you didn't have a rep of breaking bolts...you'd be the cool kid. lol

**thewaitinggame** · 02-18-2011

lol no broken bolts yet but nows not a good time to start. Any opinions on where to pick up a torque wrench? I only see sears or a 30 dollar harbor freight one. Dont have time to order one and didnt see one at home depot for in/lbs.

**BillBoost37** · 02-18-2011

Keep in mind that there's 12 inches in a foot. That applies to torque as well.

Me..I'd buy a sears or HD. You'll have and use them for years. Harbor..well....it's sketchy

**thewaitinggame** · 02-18-2011

oh, well i have a ft/lb torque wrench, i though i saw these were in/lb. Looking again i see the water pump bolts are 11 + 80° lb ft and the pulley is 116 lb in. I could convert that 9.8 ft/lbs? I may still pick up an in/lb just have one too

thanks again!

**BillBoost37** · 02-18-2011

Yeah..10lbs would be fine. But like you say.. why shouldn't you turn this into a "I can get new tools".

I approve..my overfull box doesn't though.

**PurpleGuy** · 02-18-2011

i never torqued mine but it's probably better to do so.

**thewaitinggame** · 02-18-2011

I ended up doing it today and everything seems to be fine. The loud rattle I've had all winter was because of the bad water pump, now its back to having a normal sounding car. haha I did end up getting a in/lb torque wrench and torqued the bolts down. I did have a scare for a few minutes though. I was taking my time with doing it and checkeing everything twice up until the end. I put the pulley back on the pump, less than hand tight, then put the belt back on and refilled the radiator. I forgot to tighten those bolt on the pulley up. I started it up and had an even worse noise coming from my engine than before. It stumped me for a little bit until I checked those bolts and saw they were still loose.

Felt like I dodged a bullet there. lol Anyways thanks BillBoost for all the replies, you really stayed on top of this for me and thanks to the other guys for the help too. Definitely makes the jobs easier with all the input on the forum.

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