Water pump, timing belt

[rain406]

I've got an '89 Auto, with around 160k.

I don't know if/when the water pump or timing belt were ever changed--would it be wise to change them, for preventative reasons? If so, are they difficult to replace?

[cyrus]

wouldn't ever be a waste. go for it. will take maybe 3 hours if you're not worried to do stuff...
FIRST AND FOREMOST! run some coolant flush. then drain the radiator. there's a drain plug on the bottom, i just removed the lower radiator hose.
1, remove intake pipes
2, remove the a/c belt. there is a bolt in the front of the engine on a tensioning mount above the compressor. it's in front of the valve cover about a foot down from the top of the engine. it's right in front. undo this, (14 mm i think?) and slide the tensioner down. i had difficulty with this because my tensioner was on very tight so i released the pulley a little. if you do this, tighten it GOOD. mine fell off later on because i didn't tighten it enough.
3, remove alternator belt, use a 14mm to loosen the bolt holding it in place and slide it forward. this is located behind the engine when facing the front of the car. all is done on the pass side. take off this belt. remove the water pump pulley. there are 3 bolts. 10mm? i think? remove this pulley.
4, remove timing belt cover upper and lower. note: there will be a very hard to reach screw under a lip on the left side looking directly at the timing belt. the easiest way to get to all of these is that if you jack up the car on stands and pull off the front pass tire, there's a panelling that you can unscrew right there, it's the mud guard. undo the four screws (maybe 3?) and it will rotate downward on a screw to the right. this will give more access to the screws and crank shaft area.
5, remove all those screws, then release the tensioner for the timing belt pulley with a (i think?) 17mm socket. then slide it to the left. Re tighten to keep it out of the way.
6, it's possible you won't need to, most likely you will if you have a/c, undo the bolts holding the a/c compressor on. there's 4 they're very long. don't undo the pipes on accident. then undo the mount's bolts (3? 4?) and remove the mount. rest the compressor on the bumper cover's inside lip. this will give you access to the inlet pipe for the water pump. take off these 2 bolts.
7, take off the bolts on the water pump (4? i think?) they're in the middle of the water pump. these can be slightly difficult to get access to but i did all without taking off the timing belt. make sure you get them all and pull on the water pump a little. it should pull free fairly easy.
8, take a white chalk and mark on the top of your timing belt all the way across and then down a little on the cam easiest way I found... you don't really remove the timing belt! yay! okay so grab your timing belt really good, pull it off and lift it upward til it's tight somewhat to keep it from skipping through the crank. don't let it turn. you need it to be in line. once this is done, pull it outward a little to give access, with the other hand, grab the water pump and maneuver it out of the area, and then it'll be out! put the timing belt right back on. don't let it go or leave it off. make sure your marks line up. now, grab the new pump, slap some goop on there to seal it, i think it's called rtv sealant or something. its made for water pumps. put it on the seal, put that part on the water pump , then on the other side of the seal that will face the engine, do the same for the inlet opening, seal that gasket part. don't put too much. if you get too much on there and it decides to get in the engine, it can clog lines and cause more issues. just a light amount is good. you saw how much was holding it on when you removed the old one. use your common sense on this.
9, grab the timing belt again, pull it off and upward towards the side. put the water pump close in there and slap it in place. put the belt back on. careful not to allow too much movement of the pump. put the timing belt back on with the one hand while the other holds the water pump. i had a friend help with this. screw in the bolts to keep it in place, and and then attach the inlet pipe as well... tighten the inlet pipe bolts to suggested torque, (i just tightened em really good). then tighten the bolts on the water pump to ensure everything lines up.
10, re tension the timing belt. be careful with this, under tighten, you slip gears, over tighten, you put strain on the belt. i let the spring do the tightening because my tensioner seems to be in good shape. it pulled tight and i loosened a LITTLE then tightened the bolt. then put the lower timing belt cover back on. PUT ALL BOLTS IN! Actually it's a good idea to check the seal (Gasket) on the timing belt cover right about now. easier to swap now than later. it's only like 8 bux at a mc parts store. throw that on there. (I just removed mine because i couldn't find a mcparts with it in stock before i found out mine was bad.). re screw this back in. BE CAREFUL! if you use the wrong size bolts you end up with extras at the end because they won't fit. on top cover: top right looking at the passenger side of the car is longer than the others and the bottom left of it is in the middle. if you do these wrong they don't fit on there right and you get a bit of turbulence from them touching the pulleys and flapping. bottom cover, if you miss the top left or top right, you get friction and a burning plastic smell. make sure these are right.
11, after the covers are on, put the water pump pulley back on. 3 screws. TIGHTEN THEM NORMALLY! don't over tighten just yet. grab the mount for the a/c if applicable, and put it back on now. then install the a/c compressor again.
12, put the belt back onto the alternator/water pump/crank.
13, tension the alternator
14, now that the belt is on and tight, it will hold the pulley still. TIGHTEN THE WATER PUMP PULLEY NOW!
15, reinstall belt on the a/c and crank.
16, retension the a/c belt. TIGHTEN the bolts on the pulley its self well.
17, refill alternator with (i think? 2.6 qts) of coolant. fill your reservouir.
WAIT FOR THE SEAL TO DRY! i waited about 20 minutes to be sure. i used time reinstalling to let it dry as well.
18, start the engine and listen to it and check for leaks. if there are leaks below the radiator, retighten the lower radiator hose. if there are leaks under the pump, take off the cover, and retighten. check the main inlet pipe. if there is a woom woom woom noise, the timing belt is too tight. if there's a high pitch screech, the alternator belt is too loose.

THATS ALL! sorry for long post, wanted to warn of all the problems i had. maybe sticky this for people who are just starting this repair? mods?

let me know if you have any problems. pm or here. HAVE A GREAT DAY! going to finish working now. give pics if possible so that if this gets stickied we can show people what we did! you can get credit for it! =D lol

good luck.

difficulty: 4/10 in comparison with replacing my axles the other day =p

BE SURE TO USE THE CORRECT COOLANT! 50/50 mix.

price: (with timing cover seal) ~75.

water pump: (bosch) 50
water pump seal: 5
coolant: 10
timing cover seal: 6

[muscle_Car1]

17, refill alternator with (i think? 2.6 qts) of coolant. fill your reservouir.

Where can I find the fill port on it? Is it next to the wires or the regulator?





I usually put coolant in my radiator but I'll try it.
:lol: :lol: :roll: :lol: :lol:


Anywho thanks for posting some help.

[monkeyracing]

Don't forget to top up your blinker fluid, and pre-tension the exhaust bearings.

[cyrus]

LOL????? REFILL THE RADIATOR! rofl my bad. confused myself.

[sasquatch]

Don't forget to top up your blinker fluid, and pre-tension the exhaust bearings.

that is some funny stuff :lol:

[rain406]

Cyrus, thanks for all the help! That sure is a lot of useful information, I'll be sure to do it. Except, I don't need to fill my alternator, Mr. Fusion already takes care of that for me. :lol:

[scitzz]

I personally do not use coolant to refill my ALTERNATOR I like horsepower!

Ok, to the point, I usually use a lil bit of threadlocker blue on the water pump pulley bolts, just to be on the safe side, the bolts take the extra torque to remove them later very well!

[neanderpaul]

:laughing3:

[phantorn]

I always finish every tune-up with a can of compression.

[cyrus]

can of compression? enlighten me?

[jglutz]

^^ your suggestions may help the engine compartment a perform a little batter but the best thing to do for great mileage right now is replace the air in your tires with winter air!

[rain406]

I did put christmas cookies and snow in the tires, is that what you mean?

[roycehof]

Hey Cyrus - You did a great job (other than that one little filling up of the alternator thing). However, I think the guy was also worried about changing the timing belt.
That effort isn't too much more that lining up the old belt with the marks (the locating marks are usually shown in the repair manuals - However if the old belt isn't broken you can just use a grease pencil to mark where the location is before you remove the old belt). Loosen the tensioner pulley (check it for wear and replace as necessary). Remove old belt and put on new belt. (EXCEPT some late models require removal of the crankshaft pulley which is a little more involved because you need to loosen the motor mount on the passenger side (actually remove the bolts with a jack under the engine) and lower the engine so you can get an impact wrench on that crankshaft bolt. Before you hit it with the impact wrench make sure you have it marked in case it moves (which it usually does). There is also a splash shield that will need to come off so you can get to the crankshaft bolt). After you put the new belt on and you are sure your pulleys are where they are supposed to be, tighten the tensioner. I usually remove the coil wire and crank it a bit and verify that I have good tension on the belt. Re-adjust tension as necessary (be careful - tighter is NOT better - read the repair manuals for proper tension). then reassemble as discussed above.
If any of this makes you nervous - Don't sweat it. If the belt breaks it is a non-interference engine which means you will not damage the engine.

[25Horseplay]

Don't forget while your in there to check the tension on the piston return springs!