w123 water pump replacement: Remove Radiator?
 

Is it really nessesary to remove the radiator to replace the water pump (as described in Haynes manual)? Thanks in advance.

Absolutely not. But it's not a bad idea to place a piece of cardboard behind the radiator to protect it from "accidents."

No, it's not, but it does make the job of removing and replacing the water pump that much easier! ;)The Radiator is not that hard to remove really. It takes about 20 minutes!:D

More like ten minutes.

Tom W

Cold or hot Tom:)?

It is alot easier to do it with it out.

With any car that I've owned, the hardest part of a radiator R&R is the coolant R&R. Any time that you must drain the cooling system anyway, the radiator literally takes a few additional minutes to get out.

The radiator is really easy to remove but it would be advisable to only remove the hoses from engine and leave them attached to radiator. The radiator necks are brittle plastic and can break off easily. You don't want to have to replace the radiator for nothing.
Reinstalling the radiator can be a little more difficult if you remove it with out the oil cooler. The oil cooler clamps are a little difficult to line up especially the bottom one.

The easiest way I have replaced a water pump, is when I had the engine sitting on the ground looking at me. :D

seems to me if the plastic on the radiator is going to break just removing the hoses, maybe it was time for it to be replaced too. every so often it is recommended to replace the hoses, are those not going to be changed from fear of breaking the radiator?

removing the radiator will give more room to work. also a good time to blow out the radiator fins and ac condensor.

that lower oil cooler clamp can be a bugger to get back on. It`s just like the top one, just reversed.

Charlie ☺

The extra 10 min it will take will be more than made up for when replacing the pump.

If it's an automatic, it will also have two transmission cooler lines attached to it. Just so you don't snag on them. There are a total of 6 hoses attached to the radiator.

2 radiator hoses
2 trans cooler lines
2 expansion tank lines

Be careful with the top expansion tank line that enters sideways into the top of the radiator, that part breaks easily.

For what it's worth, the MB 617 Service Manual does not call for the removal of the radiator when replacing the water pump.

Yeah, I JUST noticed that minutes ago. It it really worth it for 2 inches of play room? It doesn't seem like it... Other than that, is this job as straightforward as it seems? Anything I need to watch out for?

2 belts, 4 fan bolts and 5 bolts on the pump. Thats all it is.

No.

Once you remove the fan and shroud, there is plenty of room to work, with the radiator in place.