Hi my water pump is on it's way out. I can hear the bearing crakling so I thaught it would be about time to replace.

Now i'm a novice at doing stuff. I have multiple repair manuals and I'm interested in trying to replace it myself.

How hard of a job is this? and any hints about how to make this easy would really be appricated thanks

 

cake job, even i did it myself.

tools that are needed:

breaker bar (serpentine belt)
10MM socket (thin walled) (for bolts on pulley)
Rachet
some other sockets for the bolts into the block (forget what size)


Parts needed:

waterpump
waterpump gaskets (2 of them)
RTV sealant (not needed but recommended)
new hoses (upper and lower radiator...might as well replace)
new thermostat (since hoses are off, might as well... $2.49)
Antifreeze
New fan belt (might as well anywhoz)


Procedure:

1. disconnect battery (safety cause i have a remote starter)
2. drain coolant system (with a catch can! damn epa)
3. take upper hose off thermostat housing and radiator
4. take lower hose off waterpump and radiator
5. loosen bolts on waterpump pulley with 10MM socket
6. take belt off
7. unbolt pulley from waterpump
8. unbolt waterpump from block (coolant will drip out of the 2 lower bolts cause they go threw the water jacket
9. scrape old gaskets off block
10. put RTV sealant on new gaskets and put onto block. Let dry 10 minutes
11. put threadlocker onto waterpump bolts
12. install waterpump onto block (4 bolts, forget the correct size)
13. install lower radiator hose
14. install new thermostat
15. nstall upper radiator hose
16. install belt
17. fill coolant system with water (so if you have a leak it doesnt pour antifreeze all over
18. if no leaks, drain water and fill with 50/50 mixture of antifreeze and water.
19. grab a 6 pack
20. enjoy the car again



i bought a stewart stage 1 waterpump and i love it. the only problem i had with it was that when i was bolting it up to the block, i could not get the top passenger side bolt to thread. the problem was that it was hitting my air conditioning bracket. the solution was that i took a dremel to the waterpump and grinding into the casting a bit so it would fit. if you have any questions, let me know. i just did this job bout 1 month ago and was very easy. just take your time and its actually quite fun. good luck, let us know how you make out.

 

The only thing I would add or change rather is to try to first loosen the bolts on the water pump pulley while the belt is still attached. This holds the pulley from spinning making it easier. Only loosen, don't remove until the belt/belts are off...

 

hence step #5 but its late so i can relate to misreading it :-P

 

My bad. I didn't actually read any of your steps. I threw that in there because it is the only thing that some people don't do that slows down the whole process. But you know what you are doing and were prepared. Right on...

 

the bolt w/p to block size is 9/16 or 14mm(this is a little tight)

 

Its an easy job, you will be fine. The most trouble I had was putting it back in and keeping the gaskets in place.

 

What kind of thermostat are you all running with the stage 1? They recommend their high flow one (180 for me), so is that what I should use? I'm only concerned with it causing problems in closed loop since it has holes drilled in it. Also, does it come with gaskets? Do you put the RTV sealant on both sides of the gasket or only gasket to block?

 

The pumps come with gaskets. I've heard of the backs of the pumps leaking around the seal. ON the Stewart board there was a guy with this problem. He fixed it by simply pulling the plate RV sealing the gasket on both sides and tightening the bolts again. DO NOT OVER TIGHTEN THE BOLTS ON THE BACK ARE HAND STUG ONLY THEY DON'T NEED TO BE TORQUE! I would put sealant on both sides of each gasket... can't be too safe.

 

i will prolly be running a 160 stat with my stage 1 but i dont know yet. also my pump didnt come with gaskets (stewart stage 1).

 

Thermostats?

 

my stage 2 came with gaskets. I think the stage 1 they say you can get away with using regular thermos. Do a search theres a lot of posts on this topic. Pretty much 2 choices buy it or modify the stock one.

 

When you guys run anything lower than a 195 stat, you are using a computer chip and secondary fan switch to bring the fans on sooner too, right? I'm just hoping that using the stage 1 with a 180 stat (with holes in it) with a cooler fan switch and cooler primary fan, will not make it too cold.

 

I haven't installed the pump yet. But I've been known to run 170 thermos in the summer with stock pump. The main this is as long as the temp gets hot enough it will go in closed loop. I don't have the thermo installed either... I'm guessing it will take a little longer but still should get hot.

I run a 170 or 180 thermo and a manual switch that brings on 2 permacool fans and another one mounted on my trans cooler.

 

nope the fan switch is my finger!

 

runnin a 180* therm. here

 

Would it be ok for me to run the stewart stage 1 with there 180 stat....but not use a computer chip, but do use a cooler sec. fan switch? Would that make the prim. fan (stock switch) and sec. fan then come on at about the same temp?

 

quick question, wouldnt running a really low stat, like say a 160 or 170 keep your car from going into closed loop?

 

ive always ran 160s in my motors. the two 350s i had were 160 stats and the 305 was for a short week. never ran into a closed loop problem.

 

Depending on the climate. If the car is FI I wouldn't recommend 160 unless you're absolutely sure the car can get hot enough... I had no problems running a 170 or 175 here in IL. The main thing is for the coolant to get hot enough to allow the computer to go into closed loop... that's where you get your gas mileage... doesn't matter on a strip machine because when you go WOT the computer goes to open loop again.

 

When I got my Stewart Stage 2 pump they told me to run a non-modified 180 or 160 thermostat in my car being its on the street every day.

 

When you say "non-modified", are you talking about a stat w/out holes in it? If so, I thought they required you to use one of their stats especially with the stage 2+ pumps.

 

yeah i told them about what i would be running in the setup... i.e. TFS 23* heads, 227/233 cam, and 10.5:1 compression, where i lived and other various things like that. And they recommended to me that i use Non-Modified thermostat (the ones w/o the holes) and to make sure that when ordering to make sure i told them to send the non-modified.