Is it difficult to change a water pump on a 1996 Buick LeSabre V6 engine?

Answer 1

Generally, you only replace the inside mechanism of the water pump, leaving the body of the water pump in place during this rather simple procedure.

I just replaced the water pump on our 1996 Park Ave. which has the same engine and is likely to have the same set up. It is simple, as stated above, EXCEPT, the far left hand bolt head is 1/2" under the rim of the Power Steering pump pulley. The power steering mount bolts are reached thru holes in the power steering pump pulley. Remove the top one, loosen the bottom one and piviot the power steering pump towards the firewall to give clearance to remove that water pump bolt. Caution - if both power steering bolts are removed, they go in holes that are very difficult to see.

I just replaced the water pump on our 1997 LeSabre V6. I used the same technique explained above by moving the power steering pump pulley out of the way to get to the far left hand water pump bolt that goes into the block. To get the power steering pump loose, I removed the top retaining bolt through the power steering pulley holes using a deep well socket, and loosened the bottom power steering pump bolt. I had to back the bottom bolt out quite a bit (but not remove it), and push the pump down and towards the firewall to get sufficient clearance to remove the water pump bolt over the lip of the power steering pump pulley. It was a very close operation, but it worked well. Installation was the reverse removal.

Thanks for the great advice! My husband and neighbor have been working on this water pump for several hours and all I did was search the internet and boom, there's the answer. Am I the greatest or what...well you people are for leaving the awesome blogs.