Water pumps either fail by leaking from the weep hole, bearings can fail or in rare cases the impeller can come apart. Below I'll list basic steps for replacing a waterpump on most cars. Keep in mind these are general directions and for more specific ones a service manual should be referenced. These tips I've used as a master auto technician over the years and a couple of them marked with an asterisk have helped me the most, but to my amazement many pros hardly use!
In any car it's not a bad idea to drain the coolant from the radiator or engine block into a drain pan, this helps prevent getting coolant on components that could be damaged (i.e. alternator). I prefer to capture most of the fluid with a fluid extractor by tapping into a heater or by-pass hose. If the fluid is not going to be re-used it should be disposed of in an environmentally safe way.
Ten Tips to Change a Water Pump
- If equipped, remove the fan, fan clutch and shroud. Cars with electric fans may or may not need to be removed to gain access.
- If the water pump you are changing is driven by a timing belt, consider changing it and the hydraulic tensioner if applicable. The accessory belt or belts should also be inspected for cracks and wear at this time. The labor will be overlapping on many of these components, if you are doing it yourself or paying a technician.
- Remove other components as necessary to access the water pump. This could include any brackets or mounts that may be in the way. Take off what is necessary and try to avoid taking off more than what is necessary.
- *As the bolts and brackets are removed, they should be placed onto a service cart in order and a quick note written to make re-installation easier. I used to place white paper floor mats on top of my service cart and write with a black marker, to jog my memory. It's not that I couldn't figure out where the bolts go, but this way I didn't have to waste time unnecessarily.
- *On transverse mounted engines when there is not much clearance, many times a floor jack with a block of wood can be used under the oil pan to raise lower the engine as needed to make accessing bolts and other components easier.
- If removing a timing belt, be sure of the timing marks before disassembly. I always went by factory timing marks and my own marks that I made with white out or white touch up paint. A little extra effort making sure of the marks is well worth the time, since the timing belt only has to be off by one tooth for the whole job to be ruined!
- Remove the water pump bolts, take note of possible different lengths. Look at the new water pump to help make sure ALL of the bolts are removed before slightly prying or tapping to unstick the water pump from the timing cover. Also keep in mind that if a long bolt is put into a short hole and forced in, the timing cover could be damaged.
- Remove the pump from the engine and clean the gasket material from the timing cover. If using a pneumatic tool like a ninety degree die grinder like most professionals, be careful not to remove metal from the timing cover housing. Grinding discs or cookies are great for saving time but be careful to use the correct type for the application. The brown ones are more abrasive and the green ones are less abrasive for aluminum.
- If the water pump uses a rubber seal there will be less clean up necessary. Gluing a rubber gasket or paper gasket will help to hold it in place for installation.
- After re-assembly the use of a Lisle fill funnel will help purge the air from the system. Run the heater and squeeze the upper radiator hose periodically to help burp the air from the cooling system. Monitor the temperature gage to insure the car is operating at normal temperature.
After replacing the water pump, use a Lisle coolant funnel to purge the air, see the short video of it in action. Also be sure to check out our tool blog for the latest information on repairs and use of mechanic's specialty tools.
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