Another Water Pump Thread
 

A couple of weeks ago, I started to loose a little coolant. After checking under the trunk carpet (coolant tank replaced a few years ago) I decided to pull the firewall access and look around the pump. I did notice a small amount water, more like a mist coming from the pump area when I started the car.

Given that I just turned 119K miles didn't know if the water pump had ever been replaced, it was certainly time. I felt fortunate that I got such a nice early warning with no drama.

Tuesday, I replaced the pump and the thermostat at our local Navy base auto hobby shop. Taking advantage of the lift, I decided to go the route of pulling the motor mount and lowering the front of the engine to access the pump. Having previously replaced my motor mount, I knew that task wouldn't take too long.

After removing under body panels and the mount, I could see that I had a leak dripping from the bottom bolts. With the mount removed, all pump and thermostat bolts are easily accessed. The R/R was uneventful. My WP was not missing any veins, nor did I detect any play in the shaft.

Given the low torque requirement of the the WP bolts, and the lack of evidence of a real WP problem (outside of the leak!), I may have been able to get away with simply checking the torque of the WP bolts. Anyway, in this deep, it's just as easy to go ahead and swap the stuff and be done with it.

Total time in the shop was 3.5 hours from driving in to cleaning up the lift bay. It certainly wasn't 3.5 hours of wrenching. After replacing the pump and stat, I lowered the car, refilled with my recycled Porsche coolant (only has 25k miles on that liquid gold), installed the serpentine belt and ran the car to check for leaks and get as much coolant in as I could (bleeder valve open).

Luckily, with no leaks detected I raised the car back up and installed the panels.

Full disclosure; I used OEM pump and 180 degree thermostat.

I've driven the car around with the bleeder opened and added fluid a couple of times. I closed the bleeder tonight and called it all good!

All in all, not a bad or difficult job to do at all.

Where can I get one of those hobby shops with a lift? Sounds sweet. I had to do what you did on my back. Good work.

Good catch! Don't want the impeller to break and then have the worry of bits stuck in the engine cooling system.

Just put in your 32 years working for the Navy!

The shop is great and does spoil me. I don't crawl under cars anymore.
$7/hr bay rental includes double stack of snap on tools, 55 ton press, parts washer, sand blaster.... You get the idea!

BTW, just drove the car 550 miles today down to Ft. Lauderdale. No problems! The car is amazing for its age and mileage.

Living in Florida, I'm surprised you didn't put in the 160 degree t-stat while you were in there. Lowers coolant temp, which translates to lower oil temp for engine longevity.

Was your water pump original? You can tell by the brown cosmoline overspray on the pump metal if it's from the factory.

I'll check when I return home Monday...I think it was the original.

Or, did you have to cut the original gasket to install the new gasket?

Good catch! Yes, I cut the original gasket (and it it me back!).