1996LT1Z28

Well.....my son comes home with my 96 Z and says there's a noise coming form the front of the engine.

To make a long story short, it ended up being the water pump coupler. The teeth inside were stripped. The drive was basically spinning inside the coupler.

I just replaced the water pump a few weeks back, so taking it apart wasn't so bad.

Now...is there a "proper way" to install the coupler? Use grease, etc? ( I didn't use any grease / oil - I think I should have).

I have a new coupler & o-rings coming.

Now....the teeth on the drive stud look a bit flat-spotted, but the good side of the coupler connects pretty well, so hopefully just changing the coupler & o-rings will save me from having to replace the drive stud / gear.

Has anyone removed the timing cover with the engine in the car?

Any suggestions? Electric water pump?

Thanks

RUDEDOG

Change coupler and use grease. No need to remove timing cover.

Chimera96

if the drive splines are not compromised than a new coupler, o rings and grease should be good. if they are to rounded you will have to replace that drive gear which requires removing TC which means front of oil pan needs to drop. pan gaskets can be re-used if you don't tear them but using RTV across the front of it is strongly advised.

going electric WP would be a shorter, less painful, path if the drive spline is compromised. I have had one on for 16 years and 90k mi. you will need to wire up a relay circuit for it

bw_hunter

I think you have to remove the intake as well as the timing cover to get to the drive to replace it. Remember the shaft is driven by gears, one on the cam sprocket and one on the water pump drive shaft. it's been so long since I had mine apart I might be mistaken on how it comes out so double check before going to wrenches.....

1996LT1Z28

The drive splines are a little compromised. Not too bad I think. When the new coupler shows up, I'll check to make sure how snug the coupler is to the drive shaft.
I have another wp drive shaft ready if need be, but removing the timing cover seems like a real pita.

A friend told me that he cut his timimg cover gasket at each side of the cover, leaving the gasket under the lower lip attached. He cleaned up the area with carb cleaner and reinstalled the cover with the gasket on the lip and high-temp black engine sealant....which I'm not too keen on doing.

Has anyone tried that???

I appreciate the help folks....

maybe2fast

go electric! its the best DD mod I have done. No more temp fluctuation

Chimera96

never tried that...roll the dice...maybe the RTV will be sufficient to bridge/seal that cut pan gasket

with that said if I had to remove TC to do work...I would drop the pan enough to do it.

1996LT1Z28

How much of the fan did you have to cut to put the water pump back on???

Chimera96

FWIW the Meziere 118 standard EWP is 2 3/4" deep + another 3/8" in the center front that is about 1 1/4" across basically making it stick out 3 1/8"

the 118 HD is about 1/2" deeper than the standard one

Don't know measurements of other brands

you could mock up a paper cyl 3 1/8" deep and the diameter of the WP face and see what conflicts you have with the fan shroud. I have a B body so I have miles of room and use the HD. I believe some minimal fan "shroud" clearance is needed but others who run one on a F body can advise specifics on what is needed to trim

Dtimekw

My CSR (901LT1) clears the fan shroud without any modifications. Along with a relay kit, you're all set. I pulled relay power from a 12v switched fuse from the fuse panel inside of the engine compartment. I connected the water pump power (via the relay) from the 12v distribution stud on the drivers side by the battery. It sounds confusing but it really isn't.