water pump and pulley

[mjoekingz28]

Today my coolant light lit up so I pulled over and then all the water hit the ground. Upon inspection I could see that the pulley was being pulled sideways by the belt. After removing the belt (and throwing it away since the outer rib is worn smooth) I flexed the pulley side to side.

I figured my pulley was broke so I called the FLAPS and none of them have a pulley for my water pump. Is this a routine problem? Or pretty serious? Im wondering why the pulley would break away from its mount and leak coolant at the same time.

I've never changed a water pump so I'm unfamiliar with them and will go-a-searching the forums for how to fix it.

I've heard to use a 6pt socket on the pulley bolts.....any idea what size they are?

thanks fellas

[Chazberry]

You might want to start with this . . .
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pRpG1BIVRcc

[ssicarman]

You need a water pump not a pulley. Not to mention a new serpentine belt.

The pulley and water pump bolts are 10mm heads.

[SilverSurF]

my car was leaking coolant and i my water pump had a bunch of holes so i had gotten a new water pump repairs was $225

[DonP]

As noted above, it woud be unusual for the pulley to go bad. On the other hand the pump shaft bearings do fail, as does the shaft seal, typically around 100K miles, maybe sooner, unles you had a really pick-of-the-litter pump (and no real way to know in advance) that may run much longer.

Many threads on the process, and some discussion on the best way; e.g., from the wheel well, from above, from both, remove engine mount first, etc. (the paper or plastic debate on steroids). I found satisfaction working from both above and the wheel well, and did not need to remove any engine mounts.

[chadfend]

It's a fairly simple process, unless you have big hands like myself. Then there may be some language involved, but nothing that should keep you from completing it, same day. I would recommend buying an extra gasket though. Just from experience, when I finally got mine back on, the gasket crapped out so still leaked. Wished I had spent the extra 2 bucks and had 2, just in case.

[mjoekingz28]

Speaking of the gasket. The GMB unit from AAP came with one included, but has the notation "position new gaskets after coating them on both sides with sealer". Is this the gasket dressing they sell in the $1 packets at the register or do I need to get a tube of RTV (blue/black?)?

[OldNuc]

No, just lay the gasket on a clean flat surface and wipe on a very thin coat of RTV of any color and then pick it up and let the first side cure a bit then apply a thin coat to the other side. Or, apply a very thin coat to the pump gasket surface and set the gasket in place. Now coat the gasket and bolt it all up. If any squeezes out you used way too much. Very thin coat means you can see through it.

[mjoekingz28]

thank you. Will do the job tomorrow. Finally found a 6pt wrench. Only thing left now is to get some 320 grit sandpaper and wet sand the surface like the guy on the other thread did.

[OldNuc]

You can use a scotch brite instead of sandpaper. The green kitchen pot scrubber works well. Use it wet.

[mjoekingz28]

Alright just about done. Need to let the RTV dry for at least an hour before I put the coolant in. The package says it needs to fully cure for 24hrs but we'll see if you have anything to say about that.


Dad used a crowbar to hold the pulley taut why I loosened the bolt. They didnt come out by hand after freeing them like in Richpin's video.

I took the AC compressor off and I dont really see a way to do this job without doing that step. The water pump came out very easily, easy access to all bolts. Freeing the pulley was the worst and breaking the compressor loose shed some blood and getting it lined back up upon installation wasn't fun but didnt take very long.



One odd thing I noticed. When I went to pull the car in the driveway, the coolant level light didnt illuminate. I dont know if that had something to do with the belt being off, or not enough time to register, but the voltage/battery light was lit.


Thanks again all, all in all just about a $50 job. If I was a shop I'd charge that just to free the pulley. Just have the slap a belt on, fill with water and run it up to temp to check for leaks, then I can throw the splash shields and tire on.

[OldNuc]

The light is rather sensitive to level and with the belt off the block and reservoir equalize and that raises low reservoir level. After an hour you can run the car with the cap of to get it all circulated and hot. Then let it sit and cool with the cap off. When cold restart and warm it back up to at least 3/8 on the gauge and top off reservoir and put the cap on. Should be good to go.

[SilverSurF]

after they replaced the pump they found out my fan wasnt spinning so they said cause the computer wasnt telling it too.

so they connected the fan to my ac so when i turn on the ac the fans spins

so it might be the fan