Water pump tips?

[krs09]

I am getting ready to replace my water pump and now im starting to think im in way over my head.. I have little skill with a wrench but I want to learn as much as I can about my D. I do have the manuels and they do seem pretty cut and dry, but still daunting to me. I guess im hoping for any tips or tricks. Do you have to remove the intake totally? Does the fuel mixture unit have to come out completly or just pushed out of the way? Will the pump just pull away when unbolted? Any pics or vids of removal or installation? I know it sounds stupid but im desprate and thinking im going to have to take it to a shop and it will just take forever to save for that bill...:mecry:


Vin #4870 - Custom plush interior - Fuzzy dash and stock everything else.

[Nicholas R]

Anytime I have every pulled a water pump, I have always pulled the entire intake manifold down to the valley. I think it's possible to do without pulling it, but I know the hoses on the back of the pump can get pretty tricky with the intake on.

EDIT: I take that back. I had to change out a waterpump the morning of a parade once and I did NOT pull the intake, however; I did remove the four 7mm bolts that bolt the intake to the block and slide it toward the front of the car, with the entire air metering, fuel distributer, throttle assembly and everything else attached to it. I believe if you use a 1/4" drive socket with extensions and a wobble socket you can get at the 4 7mm bolts without having to remove anything aside from the airbox. I will say though, that I was able to easily remove the hoses on the back of the waterpump, partly because the pump had been changed the night before but that replacement pump turned out to be bad. For that replacement the engine was taken to the valley. Point is, the hoses had just been off so it was easy to remove them again. That may not be the case if they have been on since who knows when.

[jackb]

Pull the intake manifold. There's an excellent writeup in the DIY section that takes you step by step, its really very easy. The water pump is right there once the manifold is off. Belt, hoses and bolts. Easy, even for someone not mechanically inclined.

[mluder]

I too followed the step by step here in the forum and using the workshop manual and I have never worked on cars before in my life.

I ended up stripping the entire engine, replacing all the gaskets and o-rings, repainting my engine and the engine bay, cleaned the wiring harness, etc.

After getting everything back my engine looks nearly brand new. Take you r time and a ton of pictures and use this forum. The members here are your greatest resource.

Cheers,
Steven

[WelmoedJ]

Not trying to shy you away from doing this, but....
If the waterpump never has been removed, be careful with the bolts.
I had the upper right one snap on me.
At that point I was glad I had taken the entire intake stuff off.
Had to drill the remains of the bolt out of the thread and made the hole a bit larger.
That way I could use a standard (longer) bolt and nut to secure that part of the waterpump.

To be able to get rid of the remains I had to remove both facia and muffler and use an angle drive for the drill.

Hope you will be able to do it the easy way :)

[David T]

You really do have to remove everything off the top of the motor to get to the water pump. While there you also replace all of the seals and hoses under the manifold (the Y pipe). Very common to wind up breaking at least 1 bolt so you should be prepared to deal with that. It is not easy to drill out a steel bolt in aluminum. Get the master water pump kit the Delorean venders sell. You should also get the tune-up kit. Take your time and take plenty of pictures and notes. It is also a good idea to have the injectors cleaned.
David Teitelbaum

[krs09]

Anytime I have every pulled a water pump, I have always pulled the entire intake manifold down to the valley. I think it's possible to do without pulling it, but I know the hoses on the back of the pump can get pretty tricky with the intake on.

EDIT: I take that back. I had to change out a waterpump the morning of a parade once and I did NOT pull the intake, however; I did remove the four 7mm bolts that bolt the intake to the block and slide it toward the front of the car, with the entire air metering, fuel distributer, throttle assembly and everything else attached to it. I believe if you use a 1/4" drive socket with extensions and a wobble socket you can get at the 4 7mm bolts without having to remove anything aside from the airbox. I will say though, that I was able to easily remove the hoses on the back of the waterpump, partly because the pump had been changed the night before but that replacement pump turned out to be bad. For that replacement the engine was taken to the valley. Point is, the hoses had just been off so it was easy to remove them again. That may not be the case if they have been on since who knows when.

Thanks Nick. At least theres a little hope but im sure all those hoses are orignal, so I may be in some trouble. While im at it im going to replace the seals and switches so I guess the whole thing is coming out. I'll just give it my best shot. Thanks again.

[krs09]

Pull the intake manifold. There's an excellent writeup in the DIY section that takes you step by step, its really very easy. The water pump is right there once the manifold is off. Belt, hoses and bolts. Easy, even for someone not mechanically inclined.

I just found the Pdf.. Looks like thats the help I needed. Thanks for the info.

[krs09]

Not trying to shy you away from doing this, but....
If the waterpump never has been removed, be careful with the bolts.
I had the upper right one snap on me.
At that point I was glad I had taken the entire intake stuff off.
Had to drill the remains of the bolt out of the thread and made the hole a bit larger.
That way I could use a standard (longer) bolt and nut to secure that part of the waterpump.

To be able to get rid of the remains I had to remove both facia and muffler and use an angle drive for the drill.

Hope you will be able to do it the easy way :)

Well you called it. The 2 bolts that hold the thermostat housing broke in half and so did one of the flat heads on the mixing unit....:angry0: Great.. I was kinda in the market for a new pump anyway and this I guess will push me over the edge. Dang..