Water *sigh* pump *argh* repair
 

Well, It looks like my 91 #1388 is doing it again and I'll need to replace the water pump at some point soon.

The seeping is undeniable- small but undeniable. I can only imagine what will happen when I pressure up the system when I finish the oil hose in the next day or so. I'm imagining gushes of green coolant combined with a pit in my stomach.

So, how hard is it to replace the water pump? I looked at the shop manual and it look somewhat doable. I looked at the car and if the air inlet is removed along with the front coolant hoses it looks like there is enough room for a hand for some some wrenching. That damn lower radiator hose looks menacing though.....

I've never messed with a serpentine belt (I'm a recovering C3 XFire guy) so the tensionor has made me timid asthe FSM says "flip this and that".

Any guesses on how many hours it would take a somewhat handy guy with a shop manual and healthy dose of anxiety?

I just swapped out the radiator last week and now have moved on to the oil cooler line, following a remount of the INFL REST senors on the frame and a recent complete Bose/EDM and amp swap.

I'm calculating my last months "drive to repair expense ratio" at about $137 per mile.

As Rosanne Rosanna Dana would say (quoting Mr Richard Fader from Ft Lee, New Jersey), "If it isn't one thing, it's another"

Re: Water *sigh* pump *argh* repair
 

If it makes you feel better here is a brief list of repairs on my 05 SL600 just purchased last year with 51K miles

*ABC hose failure: $180 hose (my labor)
*Rim Cracked: $240
*2 new rear tires $800
*Radiator Failure $300 ( My labor)
*Left and right coil pack failure (1500) My labor
*Replace 24 Spark plugs
*Trunk latch rebuild (my labor)
*ABC junction rebuild ($35 and my labor)
*Windscreen rebuild(50 my labor)
That's on 1500 miles of driving

:salute:

Re: Water *sigh* pump *argh* repair
 

The serp belt goes easily enough, you just need to find a tool that fits it with enough length (but not too much).

I think used cars just react to either having not been driven in ages, or from a different style of driving that comes with the new owner.

Re: Water *sigh* pump *argh* repair
 

I did a water pump replacement this past fall. Time wise it's containable to a weekend (mostly Saturday, maybe some spill over to Sunday).

Hardest part is the hoses, and it's pretty tight in there.

Also be sure to keep track of which water pump bolt came from where, there is an assortment of lengths and sizes on the pump.


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Re: Water *sigh* pump *argh* repair
 

Serp belt is easy. Just insert a 1/2 inch breaker bar into the square notch on the back side of the tensioner and pull towards the passenger fender. This releases the tension and allows you to remove the belt. Doing this with the air horn out of the way makes the process easier. A trick I learned it place your new water pump on your bench and as you pull the water pump bolts to place the bolts after cleaning them into the correct position holes on the new pump. Once the old pump is out replace them and then pull them one at a time as you start installing the new pump. There are many bolts of different sizes and lengths so this is a pretty good memory technique

Make sure you loosen the bolts on the Water pump pulley while the tensioner is still in normal operating position first. You will need to remove the radiator shroud to free up room in the front of the motor to do the repair. If you car still has the corban style radiator clamps I suggest getting a corban ring style puller. I also suggest now that you are there you change all the hoses and the serp belt just so you know its all good.

http://www.alltradetools.com/catalog...amp-pliers.jpg

Re: Water *sigh* pump *argh* repair
 

Genius. Thank you.

Hoses will not give me any big issues as I just put on a set of Jerry's silicone last weekend and aligned the spring clamps; they should slide off without too much persuasion.

The airhorn removal (as suggested in the FSM) looks like it makes sense and will make it easier.

I'll have to do more reading o the tensioner- looks like it needs to come off?

Ok, confidence is growing.... thanks for the hints.

I'll have a better feel for the magnitude of the leaking once the oil cooler hose is attached and I start her up.

Re: Water *sigh* pump *argh* repair
 

The tensioner does have to come off, it's attached with one 18mm or 19mm (I think?) hex bolt, I used a ratcheting box wrench which gave me enough clearance to get in there.


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Re: Water *sigh* pump *argh* repair
 

The tensioner does need to come off however once the tension is released that is very easy to do (Single bolt). Take a picture of its orientation to the motor before removal. This will give you the visual clue to how the back side aligns in the back notch when you reinstall it.

Did you get the stainless clamps for the silicone hoses? I recommend those highly over the OEM corban style for the silicone hoses. Jerry sells those as well

Re: Water *sigh* pump *argh* repair
 

Bill I feel your frustration. keep in mind you have a 26 year old car and now your sorting it all out maintenance wise.

My water pump failed on my 91 in June or July In Phoenix. I was not a happy camper. At least when you done maintenance wise all these areas will be sorted out and you can enjoy the car.

We have all been there. And... we feel your pain. :cheers:

Re: Water *sigh* pump *argh* repair
 

I agree. I bought my ZR-1 in January, 2015, had to work on it for a few months but it's been dead reliable for almost two years, requiring nothing. It's a great car, well built.

Re: Water *sigh* pump *argh* repair
 

GC-

Do you mean the radiator shroud, the fan shroud or both? Is this a "nice to have" or a "need to have"

The FSM does not say anything about that?

I just did that repair last weekend and is was a complete time suck, so I'd like to avoid it if necessary.:mad:

Thanks!

Re: Water *sigh* pump *argh* repair
 

Fan shroud :cheers:

Re: Water *sigh* pump *argh* repair
 

Well, I MAY have ducked a bullet......

I put the oil cooler hose on last night and took the car out for a "test drive" for about 12 miles at various speeds. Jerry's lines installed without too much trouble. I'm happy with the quality and the fact that I could bend them to route around other hoses so they don't touch.

So, Before I left, there was clearly water/antifreeze residue around the gasket area. I was expecting to see something when I got back

When I got home I did the inspection and found no wetness or residue. I checked two hours later (after cooling a bit) and found nothing. This morning still dry and ZERO drips on the pan. Did the engine heat "burn off" the anti freeze?

My guess is that the wetness was still a left over from when I washed the engine over the weekend? Seems like a long time to still be wet, but I have no other explanation??

It is good to be good, but way better to get lucky.

Re: Water *sigh* pump *argh* repair
 

I had a similar problem with my car after putting on new cooler lines. There was so much oil dripping onto the garage floor a couple of days after the repair, I thought my cooler had a pin hole leak...I took it all out and pressure checked it in my bathtub. went ahead and cleaned the radiator... no problems found...it turned out the lower radiator cross member had so much oil left in it that it was still leaking from there.

Re: Water *sigh* pump *argh* repair
 

How would you feel about helping me with my infl rest sensor. Don gave it a valiant effort but couldn't reset. I'm not a mechanic at all. Would steak dinner do it? Lol. I do have an appt at Cory's Monday.

Re: Water *sigh* pump *argh* repair
 

Happy to help!

Yours is a 90? If I remember those are a bit wonky.

The big thing is to clear your computer memory and history if possible.

Re: Water *sigh* pump *argh* repair
 

The Texas boy's are a lucky bunch , having Corey in your backyard is a huge plus !!

Re: Water *sigh* pump *argh* repair
 

Yeah Don tried that with paper clip and with tool someone on the registry sold him. Didn't work.

Re: Water *sigh* pump *argh* repair
 

Did you clean the air bag frame sensors and mounting points removing all the rust and apply a healthy dose of dialectic grease. The 90s are famous for the INF error? No way to clear a code until that is done. GC

Re: Water *sigh* pump *argh* repair
 

Drivers side was done 4yrs ago. So I'm guessing its passenger side.
Guessing that is what Cory is going to do. It's a bit of a drive, 3 hrs, but I can do it in a day.

Re: Water *sigh* pump *argh* repair
 

Btw Bill, didn't mean to hijack your thread.

Re: Water *sigh* pump *argh* repair
 

No Hijack felt; I have driven the car about 75 miles since the oil cooler hose install and zero water stains- so my angst was for naught.

Thread accomplished its mission so on to INFL REST fixes.

I'm curious to how long it takes Cory as I recently did mine. However I get side tracked with random "pop up" projects that I find.

Re: Water *sigh* pump *argh* repair
 

I set appt with him at 10 am Monday. He said 3hrs.

Re: Water *sigh* pump *argh* repair
 

Just remember it is not a sensor grounding issue on 91s or later.....that only applies to the 1990 ZR-1 as Marc described and as I just found out ;)

See item #3 INFL REST grounds and Alternator Connector Boot