How do you replace the water pump on a 1999 Pontiac Grand Am?

Answer 1

water pump jobThis job I helped do in January of 2006.The water pump is located on the passenger side , below the timing chain(yes i am not kidding).First you must remove the exhaust manifold pipe from the engine.You should be able to see the water pump now and other obstacles must be removed to get to it like the timing chain cover and the timing chain itself must be removed .The timing chain drives the water pump unfortunately and that is why it must be removed.The pump itself is fairly small.This job is very tedious and there is a lot of bolts to be extracted to get to water pump so I would advise a container of some sort to store bolts removed.Another tip I would check for is check your thermostat if it needs replacing when you have the car at this point.A dealership told me to replace the water pump is $980. Canadian and it takes aprrox 8 hours shop labour.Believe me they are not lying.Hope I helped clear a bit up. Pach