Water Pump Replacement Tips?
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Senior User
Joined: Feb 2006
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From: Sonoma, CA
Water Pump Replacement Tips?
My water pump seems to have puked this weekend. After I started the truck I heard a bad growling noise for about 20 seconds. I can rock the fan back on forth on the nose of the pump and make water leak out. I am looking for tips on replacing it. I've read the books and understand the process but I'm concerned about breaking bolts and the spacer the pump mounts to. Do I need to take that off too or just do the pump and new gasket? I don't want to do it twice and unfortunately have not been able to search this morning. I have AC and PS just to make it a little trickier.
Postmaster
Joined: Mar 2001
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From: So Cal
Don't know about your model so here are general recommendations.
Removing the spacer depends on how much room you have. Some vehicles have the radiator very close to the fan so you may need to remove the spacer or raditator to get the room you need. If possible I like to remove the fan and or spacer so I have more room.
Most pumps are sub assemblies and are mounted on a plate which mounts to the pump housing which is attached to the front of th engine.. If it is on a plate, there are usually 4 to maybe 8 bolts which hod the pump to the housing. Usually this is all you need to remove. If they are tight you might shoot them with a penetrating oil like Liquid Wrench or something called Blaster. The pump should pull forward and hopefully is easy to remove. You can either replace with new or rebuilt or if you have a puller and a press, you may be able to replace the seal and bushing/bearing yourself.
If there are no signs of leakage from the hosuing where it mounts to the engine I would leave it be unless the pump and housing are one. But if you want to be completely thorough, remove the housing and replace those gaskets too. When you need to replace gaskets, clean all surfaces to bare shiney metal. A wire brush helps. Also I like painter helpre tools. Looks like a thick putty knife with a pointy edge and other square surfaces. They have a nice wide non flexible scraper that is perfect for scraping gaskets. YOu can find them in the pain section.
Clean all gasket surfaces with a non oil based solvent. I like brake cleaner with a paper towel. You want to remove all oil and old glue and gasket material. Put a good sealer on the metal surfaces an drun a bead around bolt holes. I like permatex and Copper seal. let the sealer set up a bit and then assemble. If your situation is tight you might glue the gasket in place on either the pump or pump housing so that you don't have to worry about dropping it. Let it set up for a hour or whatever the instructions say before bolting it up.
I like to let the engine sit over night dry to let the sealer dry completely before adding water etc.
After you add water look for leaks with a strong light. Check water level every day or so for the first week or two. If your old coolant was dirty you might want to do a chemical flush before you add anitfreeze.
Good Luck,
Removing the spacer depends on how much room you have. Some vehicles have the radiator very close to the fan so you may need to remove the spacer or raditator to get the room you need. If possible I like to remove the fan and or spacer so I have more room.
Most pumps are sub assemblies and are mounted on a plate which mounts to the pump housing which is attached to the front of th engine.. If it is on a plate, there are usually 4 to maybe 8 bolts which hod the pump to the housing. Usually this is all you need to remove. If they are tight you might shoot them with a penetrating oil like Liquid Wrench or something called Blaster. The pump should pull forward and hopefully is easy to remove. You can either replace with new or rebuilt or if you have a puller and a press, you may be able to replace the seal and bushing/bearing yourself.
If there are no signs of leakage from the hosuing where it mounts to the engine I would leave it be unless the pump and housing are one. But if you want to be completely thorough, remove the housing and replace those gaskets too. When you need to replace gaskets, clean all surfaces to bare shiney metal. A wire brush helps. Also I like painter helpre tools. Looks like a thick putty knife with a pointy edge and other square surfaces. They have a nice wide non flexible scraper that is perfect for scraping gaskets. YOu can find them in the pain section.
Clean all gasket surfaces with a non oil based solvent. I like brake cleaner with a paper towel. You want to remove all oil and old glue and gasket material. Put a good sealer on the metal surfaces an drun a bead around bolt holes. I like permatex and Copper seal. let the sealer set up a bit and then assemble. If your situation is tight you might glue the gasket in place on either the pump or pump housing so that you don't have to worry about dropping it. Let it set up for a hour or whatever the instructions say before bolting it up.
I like to let the engine sit over night dry to let the sealer dry completely before adding water etc.
After you add water look for leaks with a strong light. Check water level every day or so for the first week or two. If your old coolant was dirty you might want to do a chemical flush before you add anitfreeze.
Good Luck,
Post Fiend
Joined: Oct 2003
Posts: 9,176
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From: Western Central NV
Good directions Jim. I might add on the The plate has two gaskets one on each side make sure you don't get them wrong. They are different. When you take it apart the plate more than not will stay with the pump. Be sure and remove it from the old pump and clean it and reinstall it on the new pump. That's where you need to make sure you are using the right gasket. There are 2 as I stated one goes on one side and the other on the side that goes to the timing cover. Now all this is if you have a V8. If it's a 6 cyl. then you need to talk with the guys that run the 300s. There are many that are real sharp on this forum.
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Senior User
Joined: Feb 2006
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From: Sonoma, CA
Yes it's a '76 F250 with a 460 in it. I guess my concern is the timing cover. Does it stay in place when the water pump comes off and I don't have to mess with it? I don't want to disturb the timing cover seal when I change the water pump, and hopefully the spirits of bolts that don't break are with me...
Postmaster
Joined: Mar 2001
Posts: 4,968
Likes: 3
From: So Cal
Most timing covers I have seen do not need to be disturbed when replacing a water pump.
I would have to look at my 94 460 but I am 99% sure the water pump housing mounts over the timing cover and has the pump inlet and outlet and mounts "bridging" over the cover.
Take a good look for yourself. Most of the time you can see what needs to be removed. All the pumps(not many) that I have replaced over 35+ years were very simple to replace. I did my first at 15 for my mom, so you know it was easy.
The worst part is usually things that get in the way, like alternators, powersteering pumps, AC, radiators etc. the pump itself is usualy two pieces as I described and most of the time you just remove the nose piece and replace it.
Good Luck,
Jim Henderson
I would have to look at my 94 460 but I am 99% sure the water pump housing mounts over the timing cover and has the pump inlet and outlet and mounts "bridging" over the cover.
Take a good look for yourself. Most of the time you can see what needs to be removed. All the pumps(not many) that I have replaced over 35+ years were very simple to replace. I did my first at 15 for my mom, so you know it was easy.
The worst part is usually things that get in the way, like alternators, powersteering pumps, AC, radiators etc. the pump itself is usualy two pieces as I described and most of the time you just remove the nose piece and replace it.
Good Luck,
Jim Henderson
