How hard is it to replace the water pump? Repair guy wants close to $450 for 4 hours of work and the pump. Are there any guides online? I have the Haynes manual but not with me at this time to look and see how well their instructions are. Thanks for any help.

 

pretty straight forward just time consuming since you have to remove the coil packs and powerstearing pump bracket.

drain coolant
remove air intake ducting
loosen wp pully bolts
remove belt
finish removing pully bolts and pully
remove coil packs
unbolt powerstearing pump bracket and slide out of the way
finnaly start unbolting the water pump, I removed the tensioner also I don't blieve its nessecary I just did it to give me a lil bit more room to work with

reverse procedure to reasemble, and top off the coolant

 

Thanks for the info. Hopefully all goes well.

 

... dont forget to bleed the coolant system! duh
I would NEVER pay someone $450 to replace my w/p!!!!!
I can do it in 15 minutes!

I hate how the Haynes manual only shows the w/p for the 3.4 and the v8
(there is no 3.8L) So I dont know the torque requirements of the bolts! grrr

 

The Haynes manual says to RTV/silicone the gasket onto the waterpump first!

 

do it yourself... it was only $30 for the part when I did it in my 2.8L should be the same part.

 

All done. Power steering bracket was the biggest bitch to get out of the way. Most everything else went smooth except that we got a little vapor lock when we started it the first time. We let the system depressurize through the cap and then left the cap off while the engine was turned on. Thermostat kicked in and everythign started running better. Is there any easier way to stop the first vaporlock. I knew you were supposed to bleed the system. But I never saw in the manual how to perform that. Thanks for the earlier info.

 

on the thermostat housing/waterneck there is a bleeder screw/valve
let all the air out until you just see coolant