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3.8L Water Pump replacement How-To

18K views 15 replies 10 participants last post by  buckslayer 
#1 ·
Well, it finally happened. At 162,720 miles on the clock, my water pump seized up. I HAD been planning to replace it sooner as a preemptive strike but never found the time. The pump gave a brief warning several days before self-destructing with sounds and groans coming from the passenger side of the engine bay. When it finally went, it threw the belt and I had no power steering and of course, no cooling. I limped her home. Fortunately, I was only a few miles away.

Once inside the garage and after cool down, I got to work. Installed a new pump and lower hose from NAPA. I got out my digital camera and made a short "How-To" on the pump replacement although it is a fairly straightforward replacement. Just thought someone who had never replaced one before could have a confidence booster. With just basic tools, it only takes about an hour to do.

Here is a link to the tutorial. Enjoy.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/landar/sets/72157622749575845/
 
#2 ·
Apparently I don't have permmission to see your photos....

This is interesting to me since I'm thinking about a preemptive replacement of my water pump on my van with 214K miles before I drive it from Virginia to Chicago and back over the Christmas holidays.

BTW, I know South Bend fairly well ... went to you-know-what school there, and lived in Granger during 1988-93. Waaaay too cold for me to handle these days....
 
#3 ·
Sorry Dave, must have had the permissions set to "private". Try it now.

Wow, you're an ND grad? Yeah, not too much pride around here these days.
I actually live in Granger, not SB. You probably would not recognize the place anymore.
 
#4 ·
Good job for sure.. Water pump is actually quite easy.. pop off the serpentine belt, jack it up, take off the inner plastic fender well on the passenger side ( a couple of christmas tree clips) then undo the hoses and then there are just a couple bolts to take out, is pops right out, the big main O-ring that seals it to the engine is kind of a PIA to get back and seated, I just used blue silicone gasket in place of it.. works fine.. total time about 30 minutes. First time, maybe one hour max..
 
#9 ·
Anybody know if the procedure is the same for a 2005 T&C 3.8L? I found another website that states that you have to remove one of the motor mounts to replace the water pump, and I am hesitant to do that. But that other website sounded more like a quote from a repair manual than someone with actual experience.

Ken
 
#10 ·
Ken... it is easy enough to tell by yourself. Just climb underneath with a good light and look up at the water pump. If it appears to be as in the tutorial (easily accessible) then you have your answer. There should also be a diagram in your engine compartment showing how to string the serpentine belt. You can pinpoint the water pump location from that diagram.
 
#11 ·
Thanks 98t&c, great photos. Do you happen to remember the bolt sizes, for those of us who are looking at this repair in the future?
 
#12 ·
For those that have done this, was there another fastener (3 total) holding the front lip of the splash gaurd onto the facia? I've got both bolts out, but the splash guard still won't slide out. It pivots about a point between the two outer bolts. I can't see anything else, but am I missing it?
 
#13 ·
If I remember correctly, there are 3 plastic fasteners inside the passenger wheel well and then two 10mm bolts under the front bumper that you have to remove. It should just slide right out. I says 'should' :biggrin:
 
#14 ·
UPDATE - it WOULD slide right out if there wasn't another push-dart between the two front bolts. I finally got so frustrated that I took a large screwdriver and pryed the facia down enough that I could see there was another push-dart between the two bolts. So, I needed to hold that down with one screwdriver and pry out the push-dart with another.

Granted, I did not buy the car new and don't know for sure that it wasn't in an accident and somebody screwed up putting it back together, but if the factory did that - ridiculous. That one wasn't replaced during reassembly.

98t&c - thanks for your quick response. And if others have trouble they can look for an extra push-dart and hopefully not get as frutstrated as I did :~0
 
#15 ·
I just went out into the garage and looked underneath the van. There is a hole between the two bolts but no dart. In fact, there are holes like that along the whole apron but no darts. Wonder if mine were just missing or someone got overzealous on yours?

In any case, those darts are the "hokiest" (apologies to VT fans) excuses for fasteners.
 
#16 ·
All of those holes should have darts in them - the type that you insert and then push the middle plunger through to expand it. The ones holding the splash guard on I call christmas tree (probably not right) 'cause they kinda look like that. Anyways, I did have a dart in the hole between the 2 bolts. However, the one I'm talking about was a christmas tree type and was actually UNDER (or above relative to the van) the apron. All it was doing was holding the splash guard to the front frame structure (steel). I had to pry the apron down to be able to see it.

So, if anyone else is having problems - check for this hidden one :~0
 
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