Water Pumps

behind timing belt cover

Author: Don Craig Applicable to: All vehicles with V6 Added: 09/19/2002 Updated: 09/19/2002

You will need a 1/4" drive metric set with 7, 8, & 10mm sockets. 10mm must be deepwell to get to the nuts on the battery clamp. Some extensions and a driver handle are a nice plus. Waterpump belt part # is F5RZ-8620-A, aka JK3-274

Remove the engine/pump belt plastic cover and battery. Push the belt tensioner in till it hits the cam pulley and remove the drive belt. The tensioner will move inward by hand, I was surprised how easy it moved. Unclip the plastic clamp around the water hoses. Unclamp the hose attached to the steel tube that runs along the front of the engine, have a pan under the car ready to catch the coolant that will spill out when you pull the hose off. Leave the cap on the expansion tank, this will slow the loss of coolant.

If you have an ATX, remove the plug and cable from the top of the tranny and set it out of the way to keep it dry. This will also keep it safe from ratchet blows and give you more room. MTX owners have plenty of room. Minor differences from year to year are the placement of the PCV hoses, which may be in the way.

Unbolt the thermostat housing (2 bolts) and remove the housing and short section of hose that goes with it. You can study the thermostat if you desire. Make sure you put the O-ring back when you reassemble it. Fun part. You need to hold the big radiator and heater hose away and maneuver the 8mm socket on to the pump bolts. No need to unclamp them if you are handy. Note the position of the 3 long bolts that go through the pump front and into the engine block when removing the bolts. After all the bolts are removed the pump usually sets there because the gasket is still holding it. Take a punch (or screwdriver for us poor folks) and tap the front section a little to remove its grip. It will fly off, coolant and pieces of the impeller will go with it. I hunted down the pieces to make sure I had it all, some sections got stuck in the rear housing. If you can't find all of them, best you back flush the engine now.

All you need is the front section of the pump with the impeller and gasket. If you got the new pump that comes with the rear housing and hoses and want to replace all of it, this is the time for it. Some of the hoses are buried under the intake. Don't need replacing unless they are old and worn out.

Clean up the area and install the new front impeller section and new gasket.

If you have an ATX, clean and blow out the socket on the tranny, lube the gasket in the plug with silicone grease and install. Reverse the order and refill what you lost in the tank. It will take a couple of heat ups and cool downs to get all the coolant back in. Take a bottle of Dexcool with you, or drive around, let it cool, refill.

Inline 4 Cylinder

Remove the air intake assembly, disconnect the negative battery terminal, then take off the serpentine belt. Rotate the crankshaft pulley until the cylinders are on the compression stroke, top dead center (TDC). Remove the top timing belt cover and mark the camshaft sprocket thingies so that you can exactly re-align them on reassembly. Remove the middle timing belt cover.

Remove the crankshaft pulley so that you can remove the bottom timing belt cover.

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The Haynes manual says to pull the starter and use a large screwdriver to keep the gears from moving (on the automatic transmission), but doing so damaged the flywheel; a mechanic recommended using an impact driver to break it loose.

On the manual tranny, put it in 5th gear.

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Remove the power steering pump, leaving the lines connected. Drain the coolant into a container. Disconnect the water pump hose that was hidden by the power steering pump. Lock the camshaft sprocket thingies so that they don't move and remove the timing belt. Unbolt the four bolts in the water pump, remove the two timing pulleys from the water pump (requires a funky star head bit, runs about $5) and install them on the new one. Reassemble.

this is all from memory so, FIRST, remove serp belt, by unloading it at the auto tensioner, i use 3/8"breaker bar, if i remember right, next, drain out, coolant into pan by pulling raid plug out. hold the water pump from turning by insert straight screwdriver between two other bolts, catching the two bolts, so as when you go to remove one bolt it pulls against screwdriver on other bolts, do that to break all 4 loose, remove pump pulley. right there you have pump ready to be removed, i prefer to use 1/4" drive stuff in here. I think theres 4 bolts. remove pump. clean surface good, apply small light coating of form gasket on gasket, place onto, align holes, install new pump, install is reverse of removal. its not a hard one to do at all - i'v seen WAY worse

go to a mechanic lol

# Disconnect negative battery cable # Place protective covers on each fender # Drain the cooling system # If equipped with an air pump it as follows: Loosen thermactor pump adjusting bolt and remove belt.Remove thermactor pump hose clamp located below the thermactor pump # Remove the thermactor pump bracket bolts # Remove thermactor pump and bracket as an assembly # Loosen the water pump idler pulley and remove the belt from the water pump pulley # Disconnect the heater hose at the water pump or the water pump inlet tube.Disconnect the water pump inlet tube if equipped # Clean any old gasket material that may remain on the engine surface

Standing in front of van left side of motor look for serpentine belt water pump is on top of engine it is driven by the belt I have to replace mine so I am trying to figure out how to get it off

You will notice water leaking out of the water pump specifically around the pulley area.

The radiator fill cap is located on the small white header tank. This is located at the back of the engine bay just off centre to the right.

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.

On the 3.5 intrepid engine, the water pump is run by the timing "belt"- no timing chain on this motor. Not sure about the 3.3 motor.

On the 3.3L the water pump is driven by the serpentine belt.

remove thermostat housing two bolts and replace with new and seal...replace fluid with 50/50 antifreeze and bleed system including heater. bleed screws pretty obvious on water hoses ie heater in and out of bulkhead,blow in header tank with bleeds open, reseal and should be ok

The most probable cause is the failure of the seal around the shaft of the pump that isolates the impeller, which is on the coolant side of the pump, from the pulley side (the "outside") of the pump. When this seal fails, coolant can "get past" the seal and leave the coolant system to escape. The hole is in the bottom of the outer housing, and it's put there so water can drain out if it is leaking past the seal. This (the leaking water) is a sign to anyone inspecting the assembly that the pump is leaking, and in almost every case, it's because the seal has failed. Which means you will have to replace the pump.

First, take off the fan shroud then the fan clutch then the water pump. Reverse to reinstall.

Wrong, Most 91 and 92 firebirds run electric fans, Where would the clutch fan be then?

First remove the negative lead on the battery terminal Make sure the engine has cooled remove the radiator cap and drain it remove the air intake tube loosen the four bolts which hold the pulley to the pump remove the serpentine belt remove the the bolts and the pulley from the pump remove the upper and lower hoses remove the 3 bolts which hold the pump to the engine block clean the mating surface of the engine block install replacement pump with gasket in reverse order

The water pump on a 3.3L is accessed at the front passenger side. Removing the wheel and inner wheel well splash guard makes it really easy to get to.. Before you start, drain the cooling system. Have pails, buckets, or other containers to catch everything. You might want some rags too. I usually disconnect the lower radiator hose, which is right there are the pump, and drain it into a 5 gallon bucket since I put the van up (all 4 wheels) on jack stands. It takes a little more time, but makes it easier if I do have to crawl under the van for something (like that darn screw/bolt or socket that just ran off) While the coolant is draining, you can use a belt tensioner tool to release pressure on the serpentine belt. Pull the Tensioner tool TOWARDS you to release pressure and slip the belt, at the tensioner, towards the engine so that it is just off the tensioner. Your next step will be to remove the pump pulley (4 bolts) then then the bolts attaching pump housing to engine, and finally remove pump. Clean the "O"ring sealing area and check the opending for dirt, debris, etc. before Installing the new pump. Installation is just the reverse. Add antifreeze mixture. Ensure that correct is added back in, etc. To make sure that all air is released, I usually run the engine for a while (up to 30 minutes) with the heater turned on and the radiator cap removed. Watch and add coolant as needed. I then check the levels again after a drive and cool down period. I usually buy the Mopar OE pumps through a dealer as I've been told by a number of people that the aftermarket pumps last about 1/2 as long... Most people say the OEMs last 5 to 10 years. and aftermarket rebuilt pumps seems to last around 2 to 5 years.

Pull all three of the belts off the motor, the center pully has to come off to get to the shield covering the timing belt. The bolt that holds the center pully turns the engine when you try to simply unscrew it.Itook it off with a breaker bar and a rubber malletusing shock force. The Timing Belt has to come off because the water pump rides on it. Be sure to mark where your timing belt is so that it can go back exactly as you found it.I marked both outer pullies and the center drive sproket with a line of paint on the belt and the pully. Look for anOFF CENTER PULLYand loosen that bolt so that the pully can SLIDEand that is how you loosen the timing belt. The water pump is located at the base of the engine where a large hose connects it to the radiator, which i pulled along with the fans tomake room.Two pullies are in the way ofsome bolts that hold the water pump on. There are six bolts holding the water pump in. You should expect to replaceclamps. Factory clamps don't seem to hold up well after 16 or so years. You might as well replace thermostat since it comes off with the pump.Make sure you scrape the old gasket off completely. I used red gasket maker on the new pump to hold the gasket to it as i installed it. Make sure you pull the pump up flat alternating tightening of the bolts back and forth up and down until tight. After that put it all back together and pray. i started my engine before inserting the anti freeze to check the timing. figured why waste the antifreeze if i messed up the engine. i figure 10 seconds without coolant won't hurt the engine. Car is running fine with no leaks.I think 8mm,10mm,12mm, and 14mm sockets and wrenches, a scraper,gasket maker, breaker bar and mallet are all you need as far as tools. good luck to you.

Make sure that you have connected all wiring to the alternator. Also you need to check the tension of the accessory belt and make sure it's sufficient to make the alternator working.

Try, replacing your radaitor cap. Also, check to see if your heat is working, if the heat is not working you may need to replace the termostat. Are you over-filling the reservoir? It needs to be about half full, look for the mark. If it is overfilled you will always leak coolant when you turn off the engine. Check to see if the radiator cap can hold pressure, it needs to hold approximately 15 PSI, depending on the vehicle. If the thermostat is sticking closed the engine will overheat and depending on the vehicle your heater may or may not work. Check for other leaks. Just because you see it leaking out of the reservoir doesn't mean that's the only leak. If the engine becomes overheated because of insufficient coolant it will blow out whatever coolant it has and fluid will also come out the reservoir. If the water pump is leaking you may get a bubble of air inside the water pump during operation which causes a condition called "cavetating", (I'm not sure of the spelling) that does not allow coolant to circulate properly. Worst case condition, you could have a leaking head-gasket or cracked block or head that leaks combustion gasses into the coolant chamber. That condition causes engines to build pressure in the coolant chamber and the pressure blows out past the radiator cap. Good luck, I hope it's just the radiator cap for you.

I am assuming you have the 3800 fuel injected engine. remove the belt first thing. Now what seems wrapped arounf the water pump is the engine support. That stands in the way of the water pump bolts.Jack the engine up a bit as you are doing this. Really the rest after you do this is easy. I did it and the time to figure all this out was about an hour and another two hours to complete the job. Difficultily level from one to five maybe a 2. good luck.

This is a fairly common problem. If you do a search at www.sebringclub.com in the "how to" section you should find your answer complete with pictures. Irritating isn't it. Anon

"Labor should be around $125, you will want to have the timing belt changed at the same time."

Actually, this generation maxima incorporates a timing chain.

Labor can easily $250 (maxima water pumps are not easily accessible). The water pump (and related gaskets) should be $150 (or less if you buy the parts yourself from a discount parts store).

The timing chain may also have to serviced if the car has over 100,000 miles. The tensioning-labor charge can be over $300.00 in cost. The tensioner-kit parts cost is about $100. [ The timing-chain kit is over $500.00. ]

As much as I like Corsicas, they do present their problems and the one question I get asked the most is "Why is my Corsica overheating?" In my experiences most people have gone and replaced their rads and thermostats without checking first to see if there is an air-lock in the motor or if you may have a shot head-gasket. The Corsica motor that gave me the most problems was a '91 3.1L V6. There are a couple of ways to try to "Burp" out the air. 1) One is to put the front end of the car up on ramps, turn off the engine before it can warm up, pop the hood and remove the rad cap, then with the cap off start the car and let it run for 5-15 minutes and listen for any "Burping" noises coming from deep within the motor or coming up out of the rad. 2)EXTREME CAUTION! Rad Fluid Can Easily Reach Temperatures in Excess of 200 Degrees!!! (I personally do not recommend trying this unless you are extremely experienced with automobiles) The second is to "Rev-up" or "Goose" the throttle and overheat the engine to get the rad fluid boiling, then with the car running stand in front of it and hold some kind of shield in front of your body as the rad fluid is going to spray out as soon as you start to loosen the rad cap...so be prepared, and remove the rad cap as quick as you can and just let it spray. If you are really lucky this will induce the air that is trapped at the bottom of the motor to release itself. If you still cannot get it to "Burp" then you should take it to a shop or an experienced friend and ask for their help.