water pump replacement
 

i have a 94 Ranger 2.4liter. its has 132,000 miles on it. how would i replace the water pump on it. sorry for such a NOOB qustion but i have always delt with Mitsubishi so this little truck is greek to me.

Hi and a belated welcome to the site...!

I assume you mean 2.3 liter. It's not too difficult to get to the water pump on that critter, and you don't have to speak Greek to do it!

This is a very easy water pump to replace, but it's not a bad idea to pick up a Chilton's manual (Haynes sucks, avoid it if possible!) so you can get the dirty details, but from memory try this:

First, you'll need to drain the cooling system, of course. Remove the fan which is held to the water pump hub by a large, single nut. You may need to pick up a special wrench from the auto parts store to do this.

Remove the bolts holding the fan shroud in place and remove the fan and shroud together as a unit. Remove the lower radiator hose from the pump, you'll probably lose some more antifreeze so you should have a catch pan in place.

There should be 4 bolts holding the pump on, remove them and pull the pump off. Scrape the old gasket material till the block is clean.
Install the new pump and gasket with a good gasket sealer like the Permatex Hi-tack which comes in a spray can and is easy to apply.

Replace all the other components in reverse order of removal. Refill with fresh A/F and H2o and you're there!

A 'trick' to get the right anti-freeze mix is to add 1/2 the coolant capacity in un-diluted antifreeze, and add the rest as pure water. Anything remaining in the system that did not fall out will mix fine, and you are guaranteed at least 50% mix.
If you cannot get the lower hose loose, you can use a box-cutter to slit the hose where it has 'cemented' itself to the pump inlet (and the radiator outlet), then twist, and it should come loose.
If you have problems with the gasket falling out of place, you can use thread through a few bolt-holes to tie it to the back of the water pump, and it will stay in place while you start the bolts. You can then remove the thread. Do NOT put too much gasket sealer on the pump or gasket, as it will make you think you have the pump tight to the block, and then it will ooze out over the next week or so, and then start leaking...
Less is best. Actually, you do not need sealer if you get the metal surfaces clean. You may need to put permatex on the bolt threads if they go through to the coolant passages.
tom