You're absolutely right C-ya, I've taken more from this forum then I've given. I'm working on a write-up now with some pics. Unfortunately I'm in a 6 week stretch of no free weekends. I only had this past Sunday open because my family decided to leave a day early. Weddings, work conferences, house work, visitors, etc. have eaten up all my time. Excuses aside, I will get a write-up, with pics, in here.
The only issue I had was getting the fan off the water pump. They say you can knock it loose with a fan clutch wrench and hitting it with a hammer but the water pump pulley wheel turned every time I hit it (even with the belt on) so nothing came loose. I ended up needing a spanner wrench to hold the pulley wheel in place and then turning the nut with the fan clutch wrench. O'reilly's came through for me on the spanner wrench since they are not easy to find in stores. They opened a new one for me and let me use it as a loaner ($50 to purchase). The spanner wrench has two teeth that fit in pre-drilled holes on the pulley wheel. It allows you to hold it in place so you can get enough torque to turn the fan nut loose.
You'll want to be careful when taking out the fan assembly (shroud, etc.). It's all one piece that covers the entire radiator and you have to force it a little. If you force too much you can poke a hole in the radiator. Once the fan assembly was out it really opens up the front end to get in and replace the water pump.
I'll add pics later, but for now here are the steps you have to take (if you're ok with reading
):
1. Pull bottom radiator hose and drain coolant into bucket. Leave bucket there for entire project, coolant occasionally leaks out and you start taking things off. Only need pliers to squeeze clamp and loosen hose.
2. Remove air intake. 3 flat head screws to remove air filter box and 1 flat head screw to loosen air intake tube from throttle body. Unclip 2 sensors from air intake tubing and pull everything off in one piece.
3. Unbolt fan from water pump (LEAVE THE BELT ON - THIS HELPS KEEP THE PULLEYS FROM MOVING). Need fan clutch wrench and spanner wrench for this (your local auto parts store should have loaner wrenches - check with them if you don't have these). Spanner wrench teeth go into holes on water pump pulley and fan clutch wrench goes on fan nut. Once the nut is loosened (turn left to loosen) you can spin the fan the rest of the way to come off.
4. Remove fan assembly. Take top radiator hose off from radiator (left side when looking at top of radiator). Unclip two transmission lines from brackets on bottom right corner of fan shroud (need to go under car for this - "bottom right" is looking up, while on the floor, at bottom of radiator). Now remove the 2 10mm bolts at the top corners of the fan assembly/shroud. Unclip fan wire on right side of fan assembly. Now pull the entire shroud and fan up and out of vehicle. Passenger side is a little tricky, it's tight and you need to get it around the left radiator hose mount which sticks out a little. Take your time and it will come out. Don't be afraid to bend the shroud a little but be careful not to hit your radiator.
5. Remove main drive belt (and A/C belt if it's bad). Need a 15mm socket and socket wrench. Turn idler pulley to right and pull loosened belt off pulley. Rest of belt should come off now. Look at your A/C belt to see if it needs to be replaced. Now is the time to do it because it's a pain to do later when everything is put back in. I replaced both of my belts when doing this job.
6. Remove hoses from water pump. There are 4 total. The thermostat is mounted on the front left side of the pump, take that off. Take the next 2 smaller hoses off the far left side of the pump, they have clamps as well. Take the top middle hose off, that should be all 4.
7. Remove old water pump. 6 10mm bolts hold it in place. Remove those bolts and remove pump. Coolant will spill out of pump, nothing you can do.
8. Remove idler pulley and thermostat from old water pump (both need to go on new pump). The idler pulley is on the top left corner of the pump and held on with 3 10mm bolts. Remove the idler pulley. Thermostat is on bottom left corner of pump and held on with 2 10mm bolts. Remove thermostat. Thermostat has black rubber gasket around it. Replace this gasket ($2 at Autozone). Thermostat easily pulls off housing to replace gasket. If you think either the thermostat or idler pulley is going bad now is the time to replace. Mine are fine so I kept them. Mount both of them on the new water pump.
9. Clean mating surfaces. In order to get the best seal possible with your new pump you'll need to clean the area where the new gaskets will go. Clean with a brush and some brake cleaner (or other cleaning solvent). Be careful not to get any solvent in the coolant intakes. The new pump should have come with two gaskets to mount between the pump and motor (where the bolts go). Make sure those are clean. As well, make sure new pump is clean.
10. Mount new water pump and attach hoses. Using the 2 gaskets and 6 bolts, mount the new pump. Make sure it's a tight seal, don't want coolant leaking. Attach the 3 hoses to the pump.
11. Give all pulleys a wipe to clear debris or coolant and put belt(s) back on.
12. Mount fan assembly. Make sure bottom pegs mount into the two brackets (get underneath car and check). Also make sure top middle clip goes into place. Fasten 2 10mm bolts. Clip fan wire back on. Clip both transmission lines back on. Attach top radiator hose. Thread fan onto water pump pulley. You can turn the fan clockwise to thread it most of the way. Tighten with spanner wrench and fan clutch wrench.
13. Put bottom radiator hose back on.
14. Mount air intake system.
15. Put coolant back into radiator. Using a funnel and a clean rag as a screener (debris may have fallen into bucket) pour coolant back into the radiator. Do this slowly and allow the air to bubble out when it needs to. When it starts to bubble out, stop pouring and wait a minute then continue pouring. When the coolant reaches the top of the radiator then put the rest of the coolant in the reservoir. You will have lost some coolant so purchase a gallon of Dex-Cool. DO NOT USE ANY OTHER TYPE OF COOLANT. Dex-Cool is red/orange. It cannot be mixed with green/yellow coolant. Add the new coolant to the reservoir. This would be a good time to do a system flush and add all new coolant if you need it. I flushed my system 20k miles previous to this job so i reused my coolant.
16. Check for leaks. Keep in mind you have spilled some coolant on your engine when removing the pump so there will be coolant on it, but look for any that is leaking from your pump or hoses.
17. Using a little water, rinse off the areas where coolant spilled. Do not get any water on electric components or battery, but just the pump and pulleys.
18. Start the car and listen/watch for any issues. Mine was quiet when I started it up. I let it run for a few minutes and the temperature gauge read normal (210). It did pull some coolant from the reservoir once I drove it around that night so I filled it back up to the proper line. Check for leaks after you drive it around as well as the next day.
19. Brag to all your friends and co-workers about how much money you saved.
Hope this helps.