Water pump replacement

[Ophidia]

It looks like my water pump is weeping through the weep hole, so it's replacement time. I looked through the how-to forum to see if there was a thread on this, but didn't see any. I'm guessing it's pretty straight forward, but if anyone has a link to a write-up, or tips/tricks, that would be great.

What all has to come off to do this? Belt, alternator, alternator bracket, coolant reservoir... what else? Should I use a gasket to seal the new one up or use RTV? Is it easiest to go in from the top or through the wheel well?

Thanks!

[Scottydoggs]

yeah its a easy job.

1 st tip, break the 4 bolts on the wp pulley lose before you take the belt off. tighten the same way, last thing you'll do.

if your s/c'ed, you need a t 55 to remove the belt idler, its blocking a bolt, and i took the power steering pump off it was blocking a bolt as well but others have said they got it out with out removing it, so play it by ear.

after you get the pump off, clean up the gasket surfaces, and use just a gasket, no rtv. the 4 long bolts clean them up and put thread sealant on the threads, these bolts go into the water jackets of the block. when you remove them coolant will leak from the threaded holes.

pump off note the lower idler pulley is off. ( by the crank) and the p/s pump is off as well.



and back on.



i painted my new pump, it was sitting for days before i put it on, so i figured why not.

[Scottydoggs]

oh and i unbolted my fuse box and moved to the side for more room to work.

[Ophidia]

Thanks for the info!

[Ophidia]

It was indeed an easy job. I did have to move the power steering pump out of the way to get to one of the water pump bolts. It's nice to have a car that doesn't smell like antifreeze anymore.