87rediroc

Hey folks, I did a search but did not find an answer regarding water pump install with the v-belt set up. Any thoughts? Is this a tough job? I am pressed for time, so I am not sure if I should tackle it or let a mechanic do it. I went with the Stewart stage 1.

scooted45

Make sure it's the pump, not the belt, play with the tension, check the weep hole or listen for bearing noise. The water pump is no easy task depending on how your car is set up.

If your running all your accesories then most of them will be disturbed by pulling the pump. Paint little dots as a key on the belts before removing them so you know where they go (ie: alt-water-crank 1 dot, ect) and paint lines on the brackets you move (in relation to the block) so they can be easy to adjust again. And On my car the smog pump, alt, and pwr steer brackets bolted to the water pump. You might have to do a lot of prying and cursing to get it all back adjusted right.

As for the H20 pump, I used red rvt (be sure to coat bolts or it could leak) torque the bolts down. I used two wrenches on the pulley bolts otherwise i'tll spin and **** you off. Lock tight the pulley bolts.

If you have time and $ now might be a good time to replace some accesories and belts. I think for me the bill was like $100 for belts, pwr steering and water pump. I could tell you how to change/adjust everything if your interested.

87rediroc

Darn v-belt set up. It seems like this is a much easier swap on a serp belt vehicle. How long did it take you to do the swap? From the sounds of your description, I don't think I am going to have time to do the job myself.

By the way, the pump is bad.

Thanks for the info!

jconrad

If you have the tools, it should only take you a few hours at most. The worst thing I remember about the whole thing was the way everything ties into one anther with those funky brackets everywhere. When I had to do mine on my 83 s/e, I believe that I was able to get it without taking everything off the front of the motor (but most of it did have to come off)

87rediroc

Thanks jconrad. Not what I wanted to hear, but oh well. Guess I'll put it back together and let my mechanic handle it. By the way, would I need any special tools?

jconrad

no really special tools, just a way to tighten up the belt tension (long ratchet/breaker bar works fine). It's really not a hard job to accomplish, but it does take a little time. You are also gonna need a drain pan for the coolant (i'm sure you already knew this, but...)lol
a mechanic will probably charge you close to 3 hours labor. depending on his labor rate, you could be in for a couple hundred dollar bill, so if you have the free time, then i'd do it myself.

87rediroc

Thanks again jconrad. My mechanic said $180 for the install which would include a pulley swap. That is good money for some other mod! I will probably take a stab at it this weekend, time permitting. If I can't get it done, she goes into the shop on Wednesday.

scooted45

Yeah I just did this like last week so if your car has the same set up as mine it should take about 3-4 hrs like J said. My car took longer because I re-retro fitted my v-belt system.

I did have a serpentine setup . I took it off because it forced me to spin non functioning accessories. Smog pump and a/c comp. It was way cheaper to do what I did than to buy a pump, belt, delete pulley or a/c lines for right side compressor. If it wasn't a retro fit in the first place Idve kept it on. Once you have a serp setup working good, maintaning it is a breeze.

I wouldnt envy serp belt owners though, It's nice to know you can throw a belt or two and keep truckin' or deleate some power robbing accessory ( for free)

87rediroc

4 hours I can swing, but this would be my first time pulling this crap off. How much time for a rookie? Thanks!

scooted45

My buddy put one in and it leaked bad, that's the worst

87rediroc

That would suck. I had to work, so the car is with my mechanic. We'll see what happens, I'll let him deal with leaks!