hey all, im working on replacing a few parts under the hood (radiator, waterpump, thermostat, intake) and when i attempted to take off the waterpump i couldnt figure something out...maybe coz its late here and im a little tired, but anyway,

1984 Trans Am 305HO V8 with G vin

can i just take off the power steering pulley or do i need to remove the whole pump assembly? there are bolt attachments i see behind the wheel but are difficult to get to. all other water pump bolts i removed, but i cant seem to figure how to remove the rest (looks like just a couple) from the power steering pump side.

 

Leave the P/S pump bolted to its bracket, and just unbolt the bracket and move it to the side. There are only 3 bolts that need to be removed, 1 in the water pump, 1 in the head, and the pivot bolt in the back.

 

I'll try that first thing tomorrow

 

ok, i removed the related bolts to the bracket and i think the water pump should be free to come off. it seems to be completely fused to the block. i dont generally ever try to force parts off for removal, but i tried everything but hitting it with a rubber mallot this morning with no success. should i try to pry or knock it off??? should it be that difficult to remove??

thanks again for additional advise.

 

There are 4 hardwares that hold the water pump onto your engine:

1 right above it, a nut that holds it to a stud in the head; 1 adjustment bolt that goes into the water pump; 1 adjustment bolt that goes into the bracket that the pump itself is mounted on, right in front of the exh man, on the rear of the pump; and LAST BUT NOT LEAST, the one that everybody doesn't see, a NUT down low on the rear that thereads onto a stud on the back of the pump body. You might find that one easier to get to from underneath, depending on what tools you have.

When ALL 4 are removed, the pump will FALL OFF.

You DO NOT have to remove the pulley, or the bolts under it; you DO NOT have to remove the pump from the bracket.

DO NOT use a hammer, or otherwise apply force. You haven't taken them all out yet, and you will accomplish nothing, except to destroy things and create even more work and frustration for yourself!!!

 

ok, thanks. im going to go back in the garage and look for that bolt underneath. i removed one that i had to get to by crawling under, but i must have missed the one you brought up. really seemed more difficult than i can remember on other vehicles, so there must be another bolt.

 

It's really not that difficult; the main thing is, it's hard to see, not only because it's kind of buried, but also because it always tends to get all funkified about 2" deep in that area.

A word of advice for next time you have to work on your car:
Last thing you need to do before tearing it down, is to drive it down to the quarter car wash. Pick up a couple of cans of engine degreaser that's diesel fuel in a spray can, such as Gunk Engine Bright or the AutoZone or Advance store brand. When you get to the car wash, open the hood, and let the engine cool down for a few minutes, so you don't risk starting a fire by spraying fuel on hot exhaust parts. Take off the air cleaner. Soak the whole engine down, in detail, especially all around the part you're going to be working on, from front, rear, top bottom, left, right, and any other angle you can get at it. Hit the air cleaner (but not the filter...), inside and out, top and bottom, while it's sitting on the ground. Let it soak for a few minutes. Soak it again, and wait a few more minutes. Then take the hose and spray it using the "engine clean" or "tire clean" function, again, from top, bottom, left, right, front, rear, and whatever other direction you can get at it. Last, use the "Rinse" on it to clear off the soap. Use the spray like a knife to "cut" or "peel" the funk from off of things you can get to, like the valve covers, intake manifold, oil pan, K-member, etc. Avoid spraying the distributor or other electrical components at close range, with the rinse especially. You may also find it works better if you take your ramps with you so that you can get underneath the car. Do this on a regular basis to keep it from building up and getting nasty.

It's SO MUCH EASIER and less unpleasant working on a clean motor than one that's all built up with the funk of 200,000 oil-leaking miles, and SO MUCH EASIER to see what you're doing, that you won't believe the improvement.

It's also a WHOLE LOT EASIER to find and fix leaks on a CLEAN motor with no foreign matter on it anywhere, than on one that's all build up with crud.

 

It finally gave up the fight there was another bolt in the front hidden between a few others that i missed...more learning experience, it was rusty and closer to the engine block.

Now I just need to install the new one, and the rest is a piece of cake!! Rather than check the heater core, I think if i use a Prestone flush process everything should be top shape.

Thanks again, I really appreciate the advise from both of you

 

hey sofa, I read your first post 3 times and kept getting confused. I think you meant to say there are 4 hardwares that hold the POWER STEERING pump to the engine. The water pump has 4 bolts in a square pattern, nothing fancy... but yea, have to remove the brackets like power steering **from the water pump** before removing the water pump.
Anyway, just for claritys sake in the future...

 

You're right, I guess my brian wasn't fully engaged. In fact, it looks like neither brain cell was doing anything at all at the critical moment.

Also brown, note that one of the water pump bolts goes into the wter jacket, and REQUIRES sealer on the threads. It's the lower one on the driver's side (same side as the PS pump). I strongly recommend using something besides silicone on the WP gaskets; Permatex 300 (the brown gooey glop you brush on) or their purple brush-on stuff, and some kind of non-hardening sealer on the bolt threads such as Loctite auto thread sealer with Teflon.

 

ill post a photo of my project so you can see when im finished. i didnt count all of the bolts yet, but it sure seemed like alot just holding the water pump assembly...at least 7 and maybe more. i loosened the bolts to the power steering bracket too and i think i can slide the water pump behind it without actually removing bracket, but ill know after lunch. going to the store for some rtv sealant to keep the gaskets from moving around during creative installation.

all in all, i love working on my car, its clean and is sooo much fun especially after my flowmasters and high flow cat were installed

 

thanks sofa, will get those items also while im out

 

Oops, I always forget the stud at the back. I don't have anything there because I don't have manifolds.

 

kind of a pain in the keester when i realized the application is different than my 83 i had in high school. more so an unexpected surprise i guess than anything else. still extremely fun to work on though given enough time and i appreciate your support on Third gen! Great website!

 

Just removed the water pump on a 91 rs v6, pain in the ***! The lower bolt on the back of the power steering motor is really only accessible from under the car and I had to use a breaker bar to get the bolt loose. Once removed the whole power steering motor assembly was loose enough to move just enough to get at the hidden water pump bolts. Had to remove the water pump pulley as well to get at the bolt behind it as it is so soft that using a wrench rounds it off. Originally tried to free the pulley bolts by putting tension on the serpentine belt but was unsuccessful. Had to use several braces to hold the pulley in place while I freed each bolt. Radiator, water pump, and heater core tomorrow.......