Hey everyone,

I've been trying to track down a squeal that my engine is making and have been replacing parts in an effort to do so. Well I replaced the water pump the other day and while it didn't cure the awful noise I did manage to take some pictures of the process.

It's fairly straightforward and should only take an hour or so to do, but I haven't seen any DIY's on here so I thought I would make one.



Start by loosening the alternator belt that runs to the pulley. You don't have to remove it yet, as long as it is loose. Then remove the bolts that hold the fan on to the pulley. I have two removed here, but there are four total. You should be able to slide the fan off after taking off three bolts and loosening the fourth.



Disconnect the fan shroud so that not only will you be able to remove the fan, but also so that you have more room to work with.



Tada!



See how much space you have now?



Remove the belt and the pulley from the water pump. I have the larger alternator on Norm (AL129x I believe) so it was easier for me to remove the pulley with the belt still on, just loosened, then it would be to remove the belt first.



Give this thing a good cleaning before you put it back on!



Next up is to drain the coolant from the radiator. Try to do this on a level surface or point the nose of the car down. I didn't and it resulted in more coolant coming out of the water pump when I went to disconnect it.



Before removing the water pump, remove the crossover tube that runs out of the block. It's hard to get a picture of it on the engine, but this is what it looks like.



It bolts in to here...



...and here.



Remove the five bolts that hold the water pump on and hit it with a mallet to knock it free from the housing.

WARNING:

The bolts that hold the pump on are most likely deformed and need to be replaced!!! I made the mistake of not checking this and sheared a bolt when trying to put the new pump on!!!

The thread pitch is 6.1 and you can find these bolts at ACE Hardware for .27 cents each. Do yourself a favor and get new bolts!!!



Once the pump is out, remove as much of the old gasket as possible from the housing. I used sandpaper to remove it, and it came off easily. Failure to do so will result in coolant leaks from the new gasket not sealing properly.



Much better!



Old pump vs. new pump. I bought a Laso brand pump, and it is an identical match to the original pump. It's made in Germany, and while slightly more expensive then other pumps, I feel it's totally worth it to have a quality part!



Place the gasket on the pump. The gasket can only fit on one way due to the holes in the pump.



Mount the new pump on with your NEW bolts! I can't stress enough how necessary new bolts are! I torqued all five bolts down to 8 ft/lbs.



Once the pump has been mounted reconnect the crossover tube.



Replace the belt and pulley on to the pump. I found that it helps to have one bolt threaded in to place before placing the fan shroud back in. This makes it easy to line up the pulley and water pump, but also give you somewhere to put the fan on to.



Put the fan shroud back in to place, but do not connect it in to place until the fan has been put back in! It give you a little more wiggle room to mess with.



Replace the fan, refill with coolant, and you are done!!

Some say that removing the radiator is necessary to do this job, and really it isn't. I had to do it in order to get my easy-out in to the broken bolt, and while it does give you a lot of room you don't need it to get the pump out.

I hope this helps make the job easier for others to understand!

Nice DIY colincoon

I would, however, use a gasket remover instead of sand paper.

http://www.permatex.com/products/Automotive/automotive_gasketing/gasket_removers/auto_Permatex_Low_VOC_Gasket_Remover.htm

If you scratch these gasket surfaces too much you can damage them - and they'll leak more easily.

__________________
1992 W201 190E 1.8 171,000 km - Daily driver
1981 W123 300D ~ 100,000 miles / 160,000 km - project car stripped to the bone
1965 Land Rover Series 2a Station Wagon CIS recovery therapy!
1961 Volvo PV544 Bare metal rat rod-ish thing

I'm here to chat about cars and to help others - I'm not here "to always be right" like an internet warrior



Don't leave that there - I'll take it to bits!

Laying the fan in a horizontal position can be detrimental to the viscous clutch. Best to keep the fan vertical.

Good write up!

__________________
My occupational hazard bein'
my occupation's just not around...
1980 300SD
1980 300SD

Do turbos have that crossover tube? It's not ringing a bell for some reason.

Yes, but there is no real need to remove it.

This group is great for writeups such as this, my sincere thanks.

I look forward to the day that I can contribute (without including pics of my side-trip to the ER, LOL).

Cheers

__________________


Mac
2002 e320 4matic estate│1985 300d│1980 300td
Previous: 1979 & 1982 & 1983 300sd │ 1982 240d

“Let's take a drive into the middle of nowhere with a packet of Marlboro lights and talk about our lives.” ― Joseph Heller, Catch-22

Good write up! Excellent tips!

I wish the Internet was around when I did my '83 300SD twice, in the '90s. Not that I couldn't handle the job when I did it.....heh!

About the squeal? Belt(s) too tight?

^I really don't know at this point. I'm going to try the vac pump next, but then I might look at something internally :/

Thanks for the input, it was an easy job honestly but having a DIY always helps for those who are less experienced with this stuff!

I realized this after posting these photos. I was working off of a water pump housing removal guide, not just the pump itself.

I'd rather clean and reuse the original bolts than those inexpensive, zinc ones. I clean the threads carefully - with a die, if necessary - and lap each one in its respective hole with a little dab of anti-seize. If the bolts are even slightly suspect, I do replace them, but with a good-quality, hardened fastener. Ever had to replace the water pump housing? Not much fun. When putting steel fasteners into aluminum, bimetallic corrosion is a real possibility, hence the sparing application of anti-seize lubricant. I like the Lubro Moly copper stuff. I realize nobody asked, but.... Excellent write-up, nonetheless!

Jay

__________________
On the road, currently:
'83 300D (German spec.) 168k mi. - - Wolfgang (tucked snugly away for the winter!)
'87 300D 375k mi. - finally went over to "The Dark Side"
'87 300TD 225k mi.
Cannondale 66cm CAAD5 w/Campy/Jamis Aurora
Hujsak Custom Fixie/Landshark Track Shark Custom/Ahearne Custom 29'er

Certainly, copper anti-seize compound is not the preferred type for a steel/aluminum combination. Zinc would be a much better choice.

Nice job Colin!! How did the old water pump impeller look?
Regular wrench for those "please don't round" water pump bolts???

__________________
Jimmy L.
'05 Acura TL 6MT
2001 ML430 My Spare

Gone:
'95 E300 188K "Batmobile" Texas Unfriendly Black
'85 300TD 235K "The Wagon" Texas Friendly White
'80 240D 154K "China" Scar engine installed
'81 300TD 240K "Smash"
'80 240D 230K "The Squash"
'81 240D 293K"Scar" Rear ended harder than Elton John

Yep a normal (good quality) spanner works wonders - Haynes goes on about grinding down the sides of a ring spanner to fit if I remember correctly.

__________________
1992 W201 190E 1.8 171,000 km - Daily driver
1981 W123 300D ~ 100,000 miles / 160,000 km - project car stripped to the bone
1965 Land Rover Series 2a Station Wagon CIS recovery therapy!
1961 Volvo PV544 Bare metal rat rod-ish thing

I'm here to chat about cars and to help others - I'm not here "to always be right" like an internet warrior



Don't leave that there - I'll take it to bits!

The job is a lot easier if you start by loosening the fan clutch bolts before you loosen the drive belts. Otherwise, you have to counterhold the clutch or pulley.