AK Outlaw

Replacing my water pump tomorrow. Anything tips or random things I should know? Started smelling hot anti-freeze about a month ago, just noticed the pump weeping today. It's gotten pretty bad.

Truck's got AC, btw.

lksmith95

not really anything special. its very tedious but other than that theres nothing special to it. take fan off, take belt off, take power steering pump i think.. (its whatever is to the right of the water pump if your standing in front of truck looking at the engine) and whatever is above that (they'r connected), then take the water pump off, and you'll need a gasket glue to put the new one on.. thats about it.

trentrj

It is also not a bad idea to replace the thermostat while you are doing it. It only costs about $6 for the gasket and the thermostat.

Buddhaman

Also check the condition of the bypass hose. If its starting to look worn just replace it, it'll save you a headache later on

jthunderbird

Yep, Id replace the hoses and thermo... very cheap and easy to do, and preventative maintenance... also, make sure to get all of the old gasket off of the engine, using a razor if you need to.

Other than that, nothing much to it.

lksmith95

yeah! forgot to touch on that.. thanks. and this is referring to the water pump btw.

AK Outlaw

Thanks for the pointers fellas. It's already nearing sub-zeros up here. Don't want to lose anymore anti-freeze.

bluecar5556

Replacing the water pump bolts with a water pump stud kit isn't a bad idea, that is, if the old bolts aren't seized due to the dissimilar metals (aluminum timing cover and steel bolts.) It will also make it a breeze to put the pump on and the gasket won't have to be RTV'ed to the water pump to keep it in place as a bonus. Putting anti-seize lubricant on the threads on reassembly will increase the chances of removing them at a later date without seizing and is highly recommended on all bolts threading into dissimilar metals (why spark plugs must have it.)

mustangGT90210

I did mine year ago. Getting the fan off the water pump was a b*tch but aside from that real easy. To make it go smooth for you, you're going to want to pull the fan shroud, belt, and thermostat housing. After that it's 4 bolts on the water pump and a hose. I did it... twice. In a week. Second time only took an hour and I even left the thermostat housing on. If you've got a little flexibility you don't even have to get under the truck