How to replace your water pump

[NightKids2]

Someone suggested I do a write up on how to change a water pump while I was learning for myself, so Im gunna give it a shot. Im going to leave out some information and come back and add it later when its fresh in my mind such as the actual process of removing the belts. If you have anything to add just reply with it and Ill add it. Also, if you want to host the images or suggest a better hosting service so the pictures can be a decent size let me know.

As some of the recent posts have shown, it is important to at least check on your water pumps condition and replace it if need be because when they go out it can be very costly and damage your engine. It is helpful to have you engine out of your car for this, but I guess you could do it with the front bumper and radiator (and AC condenser and Front mount if you have them) removed and work through the front. You are going to have to remove all of the belts to get to the casing behind them. Be sure to lay the belts in a pile in reverse order or some other method so you know which belts go on where when its time to put them back on. You are going to need a pulley puller to pull off the largest pulley at least, you can purchase them for around 10 dollars or less. Once the belts and the large bottom pulley is off, remove the 2 parts of the casing on the engine. There two small pulleys right together around the timing belt, losen the bolt on the left one and it should give you enough slack to remove the timing belt. Here is where I got confused. I knew what the water pump looked like from the inside from the pictures you see on various websites and I knew it had to be on a pulley, but without seeing one in real life I underestimated how large the pump actually is.



The water pump (shown by the arrow) goes across the whole front of the engine. It is held in by 10 bolts, the 3 on the left end are 14mm and the rest are 12mm if I remember correctly. Unbolt the bar connectiong the alternator to the water pump and remove the those two small pulleys so you can get to the 3 bolts on the bottom. Pull the water pump out.



This is my water pump. It is in pretty good shape so Im going to clean it and keep it. Obvious things to look for are blades broken off from the fan on the pump and large cracks. The gasket is going to have to be replaced now too. Im not sure if a 300zx one will fit, I can check that out tomorrow. If not, you will have to make your own.

If your water pump needs to be replaced, you can get a new one from http://www.phase2motortrend.com and http://www.mckinneymotorsports.com. Another site Ive found is http://www.courtesyparts.com/secondtier_s14.html , they have the pump at an EXTREMELY low price, but they are usually on back order.



With the pump removed, your also going to want to clean the motor side too. If you have any fluid still inside the motor, lean it forward and get a rag or something to catch the fluid. When you are happy with everything, put everything back on in reverse order and enjoy
Modified by NightKids2 at 5:41 PM 1/25/2005

[Eikon]

Thank you for doing that. I am the one who suggested... I think it's great that you took me up on it. I hope others will do the same when the take on other projects as well.

Your write up is very good. If you have more pictures, let's try to get more uploaded. NICO's member's rides gallery will host tons of pics for us so, I am sure you can get them on there.. I can give you instructions if you want.

Thanks again for taking the time to do the write-up. This site is very cool because people like you take the time to do this so that other people can learn from it. Nice job and Thanks!!

[Bluefire]

-Bluefire

[NightKids2]

Well damn, where was this info a week ago? And do you have the rest of that manual lol

[Eikon]

BlueFire needs to figure out how to host and post that sucker.

I know that you can buy it on ebay for like $50.

I still like the personal hands-on write-ups are better. People can give specific real photos instead of diagrams. They can give special tips and hints on how they got things together or apart. Tell you what to watch out for, etc... I think they are more helpful in the end... but the factory diagrams are good too.


Modified by Eikon at 4:04 PM 1/26/2005

[gawdzilla]

nice writeup. i thought the gasket for the WP was liquid?

as for the manuals, ask around on the forum... there is an old thread w/ ppl that have the full service manuals (FSMs). I have two manuals, the R33 engine manual (rb20de, rb25de, rb25det, rb26dett) and the R32 GTR car manual (rb26dett only). My DSL at home has slow upload, but i can still send to ppl who want it.

[accel junky]

Thanks for the writeup. Very useful.