I have a 97 Rodeo V6 4WD. The water pump froze up today. I tore into it and was suprised how easy it was to get to, or so I thought.
I removed the upper shroud, then the four nuts from the fan/clutch assembly. That came right off after a few taps. There the water pump is staring me in the face.........Here is part of my question, my water pump is a triangle shape with three bolts, or so I think. I removed the last two belts (power steering and a/c) just to get the numbers to replace them, and they have to come off anyway to put the new water pump belt on.
Off to the the parts store I go......I didn't remove the water pump keep in mind, but I did bring along my service manual (Haynes) I believe.
When I got to the store, the guy clicked around on the computer and said he had just one in stock. He came back and I pulled it out. It looked nothing like what is attached to my V6. He pulled up a pump that is kinda oblong round and had 10 bolt holes to the block with a serpintine pulley. Mine has just (3 bolt holes to the block) and is shaped like a triangle (with your regular 4 bolt holes for the fan). I got him to check 95 and 96 just for the heck of it and it pulled up the same part. My V6 does not have the serpintine belt, it has 3 seperate belts. Can anyone tell me what water pump I should be looking for. Did the 1997 come with the 3.2 V6?
After reading different post I see I need to replace T-belt, tensioner pulley and push rod assembly along with the water pump and thermostat. Any helpful hints on anything I sholud do, or look out for while taking on the task? Thanks for your time spent reading this. Any help is GREATLY APPRECIATED. Robert

Yes, the 97 Rodeo DID come with a 3.2L V6.

Take a look at the underside of your hood, there's a sticker up there that specifies your engine. Otherwise run your VIN # to see if you have the 3.2L V6. Also known as the 6VD1 (I believe) engine code.

My 3.2L V6 also has 3 belts, my 91 Rodeo had a serpentine belt.

Do NOT get your timing belt or water pump from anyone but the dealer, use OEM parts for that critical area. The other 3 belts you can get anywhere.

How many miles you got on that puppy? Was the water pump ever changed before?

It just turned 82,000 miles. When I bought it the Rodeo had 51,000.
I have no history on the vehicle, I bought it from a friend who owns a towing company. It's a repo from a finance co.
It was, and still is in great shape, loaded with leather and power everything. Once the timing belt and water pump is replaced I wouldn't worry about driving it anywhere. It runs great! Thanks for the info. Robert

The triangle piece with the three bolts is not the water pump, like in an American engine. What you see is the mount for the radiator fan.

The water pump is located behind the large black cover in the center of the block and is driven by the timing belt.

If the bearing in the fan mount has gone bad, it should be an easy fix.


Hope this helps,
Dale

95.5 Rodeo is right...what you are looking at is the mount for the radiator fan. The water pump is back behind that....in fact, I think if the 97 and 94 are the same in this area...then the top bolt for that fan mount actually goes through one of the bolt holes for the water pump. Your water pump should look like this if you have the V6:

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v34/superfret78/571468.jpg

It is driven by the timing belt and you will have to remove the timing belt if you want to change it. If you do that, don't forget to make sure all the timing marks line up....and really depending on the mileage, you may as well replace the timing belt and tensioner while you're at it. I just did this job on my 94 3.2L.

Thank you both for the post. I pulled the "fan bracket" off yesterday, for what I thought was the water pump. Boy do I feel like an idiot. The bearing was bad. Since I have it down this far, I would like to change the timing belt. While inside would you go ahead and change out the water pump? My next question is: How complicated is it to line all of the timing marks back up once I replace the timing belt? What should be replaced along with the timing belt? I called NAPA to get a price on the belt $76.79 or I could buy the whole timing belt kit for $185.21. Any suggestions? I'm not sure what the kit consist of. Robert

While inside would you go ahead and change out the water pump? Robert


DEFINITELY! Change out the tensioner too - consider these an automatic MUST do ANY time you change that timing belt. For one, that tensioner usually fails before the timing belt, anyway, and if you put a new belt on, that tensioner will most likely fail within the next 10-20K miles. Water pump's typically last 100K miles in these engines, but as a rule of thumb, if you're in there, might as well, as you know by now, these engines are some what labor intensive, and I wouldn't want to have to break it down again in 50K miles or so.

As to where you purchase your timing belt, water pump, and tensioner - I personally wouldn't use anything other then OEM in that critical area.

I couldn't tell you how difficult it would be to re-allign everything, as I must admit, I've always been a bit leary working on my 3.2L V6. It's not exactly "english" to me - I do the basic fluid's, filters; after that, it goes to my good trusted import mechanic.

Thank you both for the post. I pulled the "fan bracket" off yesterday, for what I thought was the water pump. Boy do I feel like an idiot. The bearing was bad. Since I have it down this far, I would like to change the timing belt. While inside would you go ahead and change out the water pump? My next question is: How complicated is it to line all of the timing marks back up once I replace the timing belt? What should be replaced along with the timing belt? I called NAPA to get a price on the belt $76.79 or I could buy the whole timing belt kit for $185.21. Any suggestions? I'm not sure what the kit consist of. Robert

Its really not too hard a job if you're fairly mechanically inclined. I am really a novice DIY and I managed it. You have to line the marks up BEFORE you take off the timing belt. To do this, you'll need to get the crankshaft pulley off first. The best way to do that is with an impact wrench and a source of compressed air to drive it. The reason is that the bolt that holds it is on REALLY tight. The impact wrench will most likely need to go to at least 300-350 lb./ft. in order to break it loose....and the compressed air source should get to at least 4 scfm @ 90 p.s.i. in order to provide enough power. The alternative method is to put a breaker on the bolt and brace it against the frame on the side underneath and then disable the ignition system and bump the starter....but then you have to worry about getting the bolt back on because you can't use that method to get it back on.

Once you've got the crank pulley off you'll see the sprocket underneath that the timing belt wraps around. It has a mark on it that needs to be lined up with another mark that is to the right of the sprocket on the oil pump. It will be a bit hard to see. If you used an impact wrench to get the crank pulley out, you will have had to take the radiator out in order to have room for the impact wrench most likely. You need to put the bolt that held the crankshaft pulley back in (without the pulley) temporarily in order to turn the engine over by hand. It should turn to the right. Turn it over once so that the marks on the crankshaft sprocket and the oil pump line up...and then turn it all the way around again. Once you have those marks lined up, check to see if the marks on the cam sprockets are lined up with the marks on the back timing covers. If they don't match....turn it around twice more so the marks on the sprocket and oil pump line up again. You try this a few times, but if the marks still don't all line up you may have to adjust the cams. Hopefully they'll line up though. Once everything is lined up, then you can take off the timing belt. All you have to do is unbolt the tensioner to do that. Once you've got the new belt on you should turn the engine over by hand a few times just to make sure everything turns ok and there's not any excessive resistance. There shouldn't be if your timing marks were all lined up correctly.

I'd definitely go the whole way and replace the tensioner and the water pump and the idler too if you can. The added tension from the new belt will put more stress on the old water pump and it will give out if you don't. Then you'll have to do the whole job twice. By the way...cleaning what's left of the gasket material from the old water pump can be kind of a pain. Some gasket remover chemical can help....that can be bought at Auto Zone or Advance Auto Parts.

This web site, and information from guys like you is priceless.
Thanks Robert