Workin on my water pump. edit 2 --> will this ever end?!?

[SteeleMX3]

Alright, so as I was told by many of you my water pump was toasted, this being completely true I went and got myself another pump and went to work today getting all the bits and bobs out of the way as instructed by the workshop manual. I'm just wondering from those of you who have already done this, is one of the signs of a bad water pump having rad fluid all over the area underneath the car where the oil pan and pulleys and whatnot are? Is this another issue which I need to tackle while I'm in there? And also, does anyone have recommendations of how to get to the water pump the easiest way...rather than how the manual shows which involves taking off ALOT

phew, that was a biggin'

cheers.

_________________***______EDIT_______***________________________

Alright so the swap is complete, hurray, now I'm struggling with this damn timing belt and I'm perplexed as to how anyone can actually replace these things! There just isn't enough belt I swear, lol...Do any of you have suggestions/advice on how to do this??

_________________***______EDIT 2_______***________________________

raawwr! alright so another bump in this ever increasingly rocky road...I found out how to do the belt, kinda know what I'm doing now, except I went back under my car to line up the TDC on the crank and can't turn it! I was going to put the bolt and pulley on and give it a spin but if I put it back on, I can't see the where the mark is on the shaft behind the pulley.
What am I doing with this thing?!? I feel like this whole gong show wasn't worth the trouble I put myself through, learning experience I guess though (end of sad rant)

[wytbishop]

The waterpump has a weep hole on the bottom...this is in case the seal on the pump shaft fails the coolant will leak externally rather than into the engine where it would mix with your engine oil and cause a niftly little seizure.

The coolant you found under the timing cover is basically confirmation that the pump is shot and leaking out the weep hole. You're golden.

[SteeleMX3]

good stuff! That means progress continues fast and steady with no bumps, huzzah!

cheers for speedy reply

[Ryan]

IIRC...

the top idler pulley bracket
ps pump pully, good idea.
crack w/p bolts before you take off the belt
crank pulley.
whatever else restricts the timing cover
the pump.

Its possible to wiggle it between the timing belt.

[SteeleMX3]

I am trying to get to that second plastic cover right now, the rear one, and that big a$$ pulley is in my dang way! I can't remember the name of it, not alt or crank though it's at the bottom of the belt...anyways, I've looked and found no similar threads so this is my option, everytime I try to crack it the thing spins, I REALLY don't want to lower my car off the jack stands if its possible.
also, same thing happens with wheel.

cheers

[wytbishop]

http://www.mx-3.com/manuals/showimg.php ... B2-060.gif" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

The big pulley is the crankshaft pulley. It must be removed to get the covers off. One way is to put a long breaker bar on the bolt and brace it on the ground then turn the engine over by bumping the starter and it will loosen the bolt for you. Use the longest bar you can.

[SteeleMX3]

OK sweet thanks, hopefully I've got a bar long enough to do this...I searched up "MX3 Crank pulley" on google and none of those looked like what I was talking about but I mean the workshop manual says it so there ya go.

EDIT: I'll have to post some props to wytbishop in my worklog on this water pump replacement, hahaha. cheers

[Ryan]

If its the one both the belts go around, its the crank. the other one down there is power steering. you can get someone to stand on the brakes when its in gear and crack it. Or use the starter. The PS pump pulley, just jam something through a hole in it.

[Sleeper6]

Also If your in there do your timing belt! hot antifreeze hitting it isnt good and if your that far you might as well. Oh and if you have to take off the PS pump lines (gives alot of extra room to pull off the covers) be sure to have an extra crush gasket around or youll be leaking ps fluid if you try and reuse the old one.

[wytbishop]

I would definitely NOT disconnect the lines from the power steering pump... but that's just me.

[SteeleMX3]

I will probably do the timing belt while I'm in there, thanks for the reminder. I got the crank pulley off, hurray! However, now there's another friggen pulley with the same problem...it wont stop spinning. I took pictures and put them in my worklog, please check it out and help mee!!

cheers

[wytbishop]

That is the power steering pump. It has to be removed to remove the timing cover. If you go to http://www.mx-3.com/manuals/showimg.php ... B2-013.gif" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false; and follow the instructions it's a pain in the butt but not difficult to understand.

Once you have the power steering pump unbolted from the engine and moved, the timing stuff comes right off. Then the water pump comes right out. It's a pain with the engine in, but it's doable.

Sorry I'm not there to lend a hand.

[SteeleMX3]

lol you pretty much have done this removal through my hands haha. Thanks for all the help, I think once this pulley is out with regards to that how-to you mentioned I should be good to go the rest of the way...I think, lol.

cheeeers

[wytbishop]

Just to be clear you don't have to disconnect the power steering lines just unbolt it from the engine and move it away a bit to get the timing cover off. I've heard you can get the water pump out without removing the timing gear but I'm not sure about that. And as stated it should be changed anyway after all that coolant.

[Ryan]

The PS pump is easy. Put a longer metal bar through the hole in the pulley to jam it against the block, or whatever it jams against. No need to remove the pump.