If you're going to spend that kind of money on a new water pump, just convert to an electric pump. +10HP along with other benefits.

 

Well, dealership said the water pump was definitely bad and they also got me the service engine soon code (32) for EGR solenoid not working. So... bonus....

 

Update: got the car back for now. Needs water pump #12527741 and EGR solenoid 1997223 for the service engine soon issue that finally got caught after all this time.

The dealership is surprisingly allowing me to buy the parts. As long as they are brand new OEM parts, they will install them, and I can provide them myself. Pretty sweet deal.

Getting the parts from them= $538.22
Getting them from GMpartsdirect= $279.88 + unknown shipping
Getting them from newGMparts= $331.00 + $33.10 shipping

So... good info to know... right now I'm waiting on GMpartsdirect to confirm the parts are right for a '95 so I can return them if they don't fit. (If you don't ask them to confirm this, you can't make a return).

 

sent you a pm

 

Thanks SkiBum. He suggested I buy the parts from RockAuto, and I did. Their prices were a bit lower than GMPD and GMPD is having delays on shippings right now because of the weather. I made my order from RA this morning at 11am (had to use the AC Delco part # to order the solenoid because it didn't come up under 1997223 (it's listed as 01997223 I discovered) and that AC Delco # is 214-396) and I received an email around 4pm that the parts were shipped! Can't beat that!

 

In case it helps anyone else, the AC Delco part number for the water pump is 251-556. As these parts get further discontinued, finding OEM parts gets a bit tougher, so might as well share that bit of info.

 

The dealership forgot to tell me about needing a new drain plug AKA "radiator drain petcock", and it just dawned on me that that is part of the darn leak. For everyone's future reference, the part # for that is 52461346, and it looks like the only manufacturer (not sure if it's OEM) is Dorman and their internal part number is 61136. 52461346 is possibly a discontinued part number, and I believe it's been replaced by 10368798. Apparently it also goes by 9008034011, 94853508, 94853509, 94853742. Don't know if they are the same exact part, but they seem to be.

 

Rock Auto is pretty fast on shipping.

 

No kidding! The parts came at 11:30am and I only ordered them yesterday at 11am! 24 hours!

 

Update:

Got the parts from Rock Auto in extremely fast time. Brand new water pump, brand new EGR solenoid, and brand new generic radiator drain plug/petcock. I had the dealership put all the parts on. They charged me $138.64 in labor for replacing the EGR solenoid, and $357.00 in labor for the waterpump. They did the drain plug for free (which was obviously a 10 second job) so it makes sense. They said that I actually got a better deal on the water pump labor because they quoted me the labor for replacing a water pump on a V6 Camaro. Whether that's true or not, I don't know.

Replacing the EGR solenoid did not solve the service engine soon problem, as I believe some said in this topic (or at least some said elsewhere) that code 32 is the EGR valve. The water pump install seems good, but the way they did the hoses looks different based on my memory (the skinny hose with the bleeder on it I don't remember being attached how they did it) and for some odd reason they replaced the other bleed screw with a screw with a hex head on it. No idea why... I can take pictures if anybody would like to see and can help explain...

Frustratingly, they didn't fill the radiator up enough and had the car running when I arrived. It was a little over halfway on the temp gauge. I drove off the lot and immediately had the low coolant symbol appear. I flipped a U and went and bitched at them. They took it back into the shop and the service writer said that the mechanic said there was plenty of fluid in the system, it must be a bad coolant level sensor. I told him I had the sensor replaced last year during the partial restoration on the car and the car was definitely low on coolant in the radiator. He assured me the mechanic said it'd be fine. I drove the 2 miles home like a grandma. 3 blocks from home, the temp gauge shot all the way to the right of 265 degrees, the Check Gauges light came on, and (perhaps fortunately) the service engine soon light came on (because the EGR problem still remains) and the fans kicked on high gear. I was infuriated when I got home because of this. I parked the car, let it cool down, and checked the fluids the next morning.

The overflow tank was way, way overfilled with what looks like pure water. The radiator was down about 8 ounces of fluid, so I added about that much of 100% green antifreeze, ethilyene glycol or whatever since the overflow tank is so diluted. I'm thankful they at least didn't pollute my cooling system with DEX-COOL since this car has never run DEX-COOL.

Drove the car today, and the cooling system is working fine. EGR error still remains. Took it back to the dealership to see if the dealership would somehow warranty the problem still remaining after they supposedly fixed it. And they said... what you can read and respond to in this topic: https://www.camaroz28.com/forums/sho...98#post6587698

I can't wait for my regular mechanics to find jobs again... -___-

 

Is your mechanic Mr. Greedwrench, or Ben Dover?

The incompetence of dealer shops is unforgivable.

 

Update: Picked up the car, and got to talk to the technician who worked on the car after bitching at the service writer.

Found out several things from him. One, the EGR solenoid was supposedly bad, but he didn't know the EGR valve was bad until replacing the solenoid. Okay, I can accept that. Two, the vacuum lines are clean and in good shape, which I asked about, since that isn't something I'm going to be able to test very well with my limited tools and experience. I then asked if he is the one who estimates the hours and asked him how changing the EGR Valve could be flagged as a 3 hour, $357 job when everybody on here says it's a 15 to 20 minute job. He said "well then, have one of those people do it."

I got off the phone with him after that. Then the service writer asked about the cooling system issues and I started complaining about that. He tried to call the technician, but he already left, but had me talk to a different technician who helped on the car. One, I asked why in the world they released the car with the radiator so empty the car would overheat on my 2 mile drive home and that I shouldn't be paying them over $350 for me to have to finish their job. He claimed that they tried to get all the air out, but it must have still had a bunch of air in it. Okay... so I asked why the coolant overflow reservoir was so full of fluid like they just decided to overfill it to account for laziness in getting the air out. He didn't have an answer for that. I then asked if they reused the original coolant that fell out or if they used all new, and he claimed they used all new (if true, I'm at least happy to have what ended up being a free coolant drain and refill). I questioned about the bleed screw being replaced with a hex-head screw of some sort and he wasn't sure about that and said the other technician must have done that. Okay...

And then the service writer said, well, if that answered all of your questions, you know, just keep in mind that you only had to pay for 3 hours of labor on the water pump replacement instead of the 5 hours it should have been. (I didn't bring this up, but I didn't NOT agree to 5 hours of labor, they just simply didn't charge it to me for it for some odd reason. I wasn't given an estimate, I didn't claim the car was a V6 at any point, the car's been there for many, many oil changes, and it was someone there's fault for not charging me "enough." I'm not sure why they stuck to the cheaper amount in the slightest.) So I said "So, just because you guys gave me 2 free hours of labor on the water pump for some unknown reason, I should have to pay another 3 hours of labor for something the technician will be done with after 15 minutes? How is that my fault?"

Long story short, nothing was solved, but I am at least better informed about the condition of the EGR system now, and after the new EGR Valve comes from rockauto and I put it on, the car should be running like practically new. I'll never take the Z28 to that dealership ever again and I pray that my old mechanic finds a job somewhere or will just come over and work on the car in my garage sometime.

 

Sorry to hear your issue man. I tried to tell you to not take it to a dealer. I personally don't trust anyone but myself working on my car. I suggest you start investing in some tools and dable in your car yourself. Working on the LT1 is really not hard and most jobs can be done in a few hours or a weekend even for the novice mechanic out there.

 

3 hours @ $119/hr to remove 2 nuts and a plastic hose and replace them.