Water pump replaced!

[rrgrassi]

Man, what a PITA that was! who ever designed the fan clutch bolt spacing should be shot! Fan clucth look good, though, and does work properly (I did test it!) Luckily I did not have to grind a 10 mm box wrench. I used a "GoodWrench" 10 mm, which has a really thin wall. One bolt was slightly rounded by the PO, or his mechanic. Probably the same one who spliced my high side A/C line under the car, instead of replacing it.

Anyway, after finally getting the W/P off, I thought there was rust in the system. It was copper colored, but smooth and shiny like an epoxy. I wonder if the PO used that "copper flake" stop leak? Also, the PO used orange RTV, with no gasket, an when I got it apart, the W/P did not show signs of leaking, but the car was drooling from under the w/p. I was able to see a coolant trail where who ever installed the w/p did not get it all sealed, on the bottom of course, plus it had the green coolant in it. I also had to remove parts of the prior gasket left over from a prior water pump to the one I replaced. I hate shoddy work and attempt to cover it up with RTV! The back bolt on the Alt is a PITA to get to! If I had new U-Tube seals, I would have removed it, allowing easier access. The W/P impeller had one spot of rust on it. The new pump has a brass impeller. I did buy it at O'Reilly, and it is a new, not reman pump for $44. It also has a life time warranty. I checked with M/B they warranted the w/p for 90 days...

It is now all flushed out. I did my own versoin of a reverse flush by using the water hose running at half open at the spigot ,some rags, and by disconnecting various hoses and running the water until it all ran clear. The block took for ever to run clear! Drained out as much as possible and refilled with Zerex G05, which I found at Auto Zone. I refilled through the tank, and through the upper radiator hose, with the car on a slight incline and the front end raised up on stands. I left the heater hose on the left side of the head disconnected while I filled. When I saw coolant come out, I reconnected the hose. I then kept filling using the upper radiator hose until the mixture stated dibbling from the upper radiator connection. Hooked it all up, ran the engine with the heater on, and when the Tstat opened, watched the level in the tank, then took her for a 15 min test run. No leaks! Yeah! Temp hovered just a hair above 80 on the guage. Checked the level this moring before driving to work, and it was at the proper level. Luckily, there was no rust or scaling that I could see in the radiator, or in the linings of the hoses.

[Benzcrusher]

The 10mm wrench in the tool kit works fine on the WP bolts. It's a good idea to replace the bolts when removing the fan after the car has been in the hands of POs for the past 20-25 years. Once the bolt heads are damaged, they can be a pain to remove...

[rrgrassi]

Good advice on the bolt replacement. Since I was doing this at night, I did not have the luxury of running to a parts house. Also, living 15 miles from the nearest McParts does not help either. I also did not think about it. I had no problem removing or replacing them.

I also have a Stanley 10 mm whose box head was too thick to even get on the bolts, that is why I bought to $3.00 "GoodWrench" brand.

Does anyone know the difference between the G05 and the G12 coolants? Our TDI Jetta requires the G12. McParts does not know "G anything" except each brand claims to be comapatible.

I read the Prestone placard at Auto Zone that stated Non silicate systems should "operate properly" on silicate coolant. Yeah, right. If that is the case, then why do non silicate systems develope water pump seal and bearing failures when silicates are added? Silicate = fine grit = a grinding action = seals and bearing ginding away...

Thanks!

[Hit Man X]

Mine wasn't too bad to replace on the SD. Best advice? Use antiseize on all bolts going into the block.

I had a few break off on the black BMW here a few days ago when tearing down the top end.

[rrgrassi]

I though about using anti-seize, but the wp bolts into an aluminum spacer (that also houses the thermostat) which is bolted to the block. When I removed the w/p bolts, coolant came pouring out of the bolt holes. So, be cause of that I did not really want any anti sieze compound circulating through the cooling system,

[rocketman93116]

I have used teflon thread paste in the past on bolts that pass through coolant passages.