dodgethis Posted February 3, 2009 Report Share Posted February 3, 2009 Hey I was thinking down the road about my water pump possibly failing. I am curious as to what is it that makes them go out? I mean all it is is just a pulley that is hooked in with the fan belt that just turns the water flow while the car is idle or accelerated. I don't understand what makes them go out? I know the fins that pushes the water around can't go bad because its metal and it just spins as fast as the belt pulls it. Is it more of the gasket around the water pump fails and causes a problem with loosing coolant all over the place? Rob Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
88red4cyl Posted February 3, 2009 Report Share Posted February 3, 2009 I think the bearings go out in them... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
swift13 Posted February 3, 2009 Report Share Posted February 3, 2009 the fins do go bad in some cases i have seen them withered down to nothing and corroded away not sure why or how exactly they go bad. but most of the time the gasket fails and she starts to weep or the pulley can go bad Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
w-bodys_are_the_best Posted February 3, 2009 Report Share Posted February 3, 2009 On my 96 CS, the seal (not the gasket) at the bearings failed and coolant was coming out through there. I put 3 water pumps on my 94 CS, they are so easy to do on a 3100, it's a 20 minute job. I put one on when I first had it, the bearings failed in it within a month and it sounded horrible, so I replaced that one under warranty, then 2 years after that I had to replace it again. There's really only 3 things that can fail, the bearings, gasket or seal (by bearings). It's just a metal plate with a turbine on one side, bearing in the middle, and wheel that the pulley atatches to. I haven't seen one with the fins worn down yet, I imagine if the bearings got bad enough, it could contact the housing which would be bad because you'd have metal shavings in the cooling system. I can't remember if the clearance is that tight, but I imagine it is. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dodgethis Posted February 3, 2009 Author Report Share Posted February 3, 2009 On my 96 CS, the seal (not the gasket) at the bearings failed and coolant was coming out through there. I put 3 water pumps on my 94 CS, they are so easy to do on a 3100, it's a 20 minute job. I put one on when I first had it, the bearings failed in it within a month and it sounded horrible, so I replaced that one under warranty, then 2 years after that I had to replace it again. There's really only 3 things that can fail, the bearings, gasket or seal (by bearings). It's just a metal plate with a turbine on one side, bearing in the middle, and wheel that the pulley atatches to. I haven't seen one with the fins worn down yet, I imagine if the bearings got bad enough, it could contact the housing which would be bad because you'd have metal shavings in the cooling system. I can't remember if the clearance is that tight, but I imagine it is. Im glad to hear that its an easy job to do in case mine ever failed. Hey anyone got a write up on such an easy task? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Night Fury Posted February 3, 2009 Report Share Posted February 3, 2009 There is a handy video of it floating around somewhere... Search 3100 water pump replacement on youtube... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
88red4cyl Posted February 3, 2009 Report Share Posted February 3, 2009 On my 96 CS, the seal (not the gasket) at the bearings failed and coolant was coming out through there. I put 3 water pumps on my 94 CS, they are so easy to do on a 3100, it's a 20 minute job. I put one on when I first had it, the bearings failed in it within a month and it sounded horrible, so I replaced that one under warranty, then 2 years after that I had to replace it again. There's really only 3 things that can fail, the bearings, gasket or seal (by bearings). It's just a metal plate with a turbine on one side, bearing in the middle, and wheel that the pulley atatches to. I haven't seen one with the fins worn down yet, I imagine if the bearings got bad enough, it could contact the housing which would be bad because you'd have metal shavings in the cooling system. I can't remember if the clearance is that tight, but I imagine it is. Im glad to hear that its an easy job to do in case mine ever failed. Hey anyone got a write up on such an easy task? Honestly, the hardest part is getting the pulley cover (the black round thing) off (and subsequently back on again)... The rest is a cake walk... 5 bolts, out comes the water pump... Scrape off the old gasket, install new wp and gasket (and some sealant stuff), put the annoying black pulley back on, and you're done... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dakiln Posted February 5, 2009 Report Share Posted February 5, 2009 holding the pulley in place is simple - place a large flat screwdriver between two of the bolts as a holding fixture and with your other hand loosen or tighten the third and fourth bolts spin it around and do the same for the other two bolts, just did it this weekend. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
88red4cyl Posted February 5, 2009 Report Share Posted February 5, 2009 holding the pulley in place is simple - place a large flat screwdriver between two of the bolts as a holding fixture and with your other hand loosen or tighten the third and fourth bolts spin it around and do the same for the other two bolts, just did it this weekend. It's not hard, it's just the hardest part of the whole procedure, IMHO... When I did mine, it kept slipping on me, so I had to have my wife hold the screwdriver for me while I loosened the bolts... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
w-bodys_are_the_best Posted February 5, 2009 Report Share Posted February 5, 2009 IIRC the last time I did mine I thought I'd be smart and try to break them loose with the belt still on, then pull the belt off and take them the rest of the way out, but it just kept slipping since it's on the smooth side of the belt. I think if it was on the splined side and had a splined pulley that would have worked. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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