C1 Water Pump Replacement

[Bob Canfora]

Re: C1 Water Pump Replacement

i tend to agree with you Chris...but not for the reason of "temporary"...i suspect the recommendation for grade 8 was either that if all but one bolt was removed...the engine would be supported by one rather than the four intended or that Murphy's Law will come into play and the outside support will fail at worst possible moment...i would certainly want the strongest bolt i could get in either of those cases especially if i needed to move something...but, if the engine is otherwise supported, i would agree that "soft" bolts would work fine as "placeholders" as long as one real bolt is removed and immediately replaced with placeholder as a precaution...my only concern with soft bolts would be stripping the end of the bolt where it needs to be slotted for screwdriver...however, if the threads on the block are cleaned with a tap and the placeholders are well lubricated, stripping should not be a problem either...and i will probably end up with Grade 5 bolts simply as a good, old-fashioned, all-american...compromise...thanks for your thoughts...

by the way...in between posts i have removed the upper fan shroud, 4 bladed fan and spacer that doesn't appear to be seperate from fan, loosened generator and removed belt, removed water pump pulley and discovered a large loose "washer-spacer" behind water pump pulley, and loosened the driver side lower water pump bolt (lost my nerve when i had to go to half-inch drive socket to break 3/8 bolt loose so i gave everything another shot of liquid wrench (PB Blaster actually) and will finish loosening bolts and removing heater hoses tomorrow)...i am beginning to wonder if 20-25 ft/lbs is enough torque...or whoever/whenever installed water pump before me was 6'-8" giant with 200k psi air tool...

[Christopher R.]

Re: C1 Water Pump Replacement

I haven't been in there in a while, but I believe there's a washer-spacer and/or a thing called a "reinforcement" in behind the pulley. Read somewhere else that there's a good engineering reason why you want this. Check the vendor parts catalogs to see if you can find a parts blow up of all the parts in there. Note the 4 bolts that attach the fan are Grade 8.

[Jack H.]

An easy way here is...

to pick up four cylinder head bolts the next time you're at the scrap yard. They're unthreaded on the top side and work just FINE for making 'rate buster' temporary support water pump special tools!

[Larry P.]

Re: C1 Water Pump Replacement

Bob,
These temporary studs aren't going to support anything except the weight of the waterpump and bracket. The engine most be supported by other means while you clean everything. The studs are just a good way to keep the gaskets from slipping during installation.
I used manifold studs and just put them in finger tight and replaced the regular bolts one at a time.
Larry

[Bob Canfora]

Re: An easy way here is...

will definetely do just that...i like the idea of the threads missing which should make jiggling the pump off a bit easier...besides they would resemble the 2-inch long, 3/8th's bolt (14 tpi i think with Grade 5 and a circle) that i was able to remove from driver's side lower end of the water pump this morning...before i ran out of time and had to go to airport to pick up the mrs..still no luck getting the corbin clamp to let loose of water hose and that hose has to come off to have access to upper passenger side bolt...may have to wait for pliers to come in mail (why did i order a tool from so far away??...i bet local auto dealer has one or maybe even sears)...but had very little time with car today...

so far pump replacement has been painless...my only concern now is breaking the head off one of the other three bolts...the one that i got out has lock washer welded to top and shows no sign of penetrating liquid...only the first 7 threads from the tip (about 1/2 inch) seems to have been holding because the second half inch is rusted or threads filled with some unknown material to the extent the bolt appears stripped...thanks again for everyone's help!!

[Bob Canfora]

Re: C1 Water Pump Replacement

hey Larry...it is all in the timing of when/if the engine goes on support...i was informed that it is possible to replace the water pump without ever supporting the engine by outside means at all !!...if you are confident that the water pump is the culprit and have no desire to examine the cross-member or disturb the connection between the block and the engine support...the whole 15 step process discussed in this post would be cut in half (and that may explain corvette central's note that only two gaskets are needed when replacing water pump...heh heh)...simply by having the "placeholders" remain in place supporting the engine while the water pump is pried off and replaced...not that you or i would ever do it that way...

in my short time subscribed to this board...i have seen many posts of gratitude...i sincerely wish to add mine to the many others and hope that all who contribute and gain from these posts...keep having fun...forever and ever...

[John H.]

Re: An easy way here is...

Bob -

You MUST support the engine from below while doing this job. Period. Don't forget to use thread sealer on the water pump bolts - they protrude into the water jacket in the block, and if you don't use thread sealer on them, coolant will leak past the threads and out under the bolt heads.

[Rob Dame]

Re: An easy way here is...

Bob as for getting the corbin clamp to slide back away from the water pump and hose fitting the ridge on the fitting gets in the way and stops the clamp from sliding back. I've had better luck when i slide the clamp off the hose towards the water pump then remove the hose from the fitting. Same holds true when its time to put it back together. Put the clamp over the fitting and up against the water pump install the hose then slide the clamp over the hose. Rob

[Bob Canfora]

Re: An easy way here is...

the corbin pliers are miraculous!!...within seconds the clamp would have gone either way...towards the pump or away along length of hose...which is direction i chose to keep from losing clamp when hose came loose...little did i know that hose would come loose from water pump so easily...actually, it came loose right at position it was clamped leaving about 1-inch of hose on the water pump...now what do i do???

it appears that i have two choices...trim the hose neatly and see if it is long enough to reach over the old fitting with the new water pump and old heater hose connection (assuming i can get the old heater hose fitting out of the old water pump)...or replace the entire length of heater hose and heater hose fitting...the hose doesn't appear to have a clamp at firewall end...any suggestions would be more than welcome at this point...

once hose was off, i noticed that one of the bolts through water pump is special with threads for attaching the bottom of generator bracket to it with a nut...i do so hope the bolt comes out in one piece...