Ok I am trying to replace the water pump on my 2001 suburban. Two questions do I need to use permatex it appears that the gasket comes with its own glue. The other is there a side tyo the gaskets they appear to be the same both sides?

As far as the gasket goes, it does not matter which side and you should use the gasket sealant that came with the kit. I would recommend purchasing a Haynes repair manual at your local auto parts store for a job such as this. It will give you a step by step instruction on how to do this job. It's EXTREMELY important to torque the bolts on the pump to manufacturers specs (the Haynes manual has this) so make sure to use a torque wrench to tighten these bolts. Not a hard job but one you have to be careful about.

Chevy V8's have one of the easiest water pumps to change. Like most jobs, getting the old pump off is most of the work. Get the surfaces on the block nice and clean. Glue the small gaskets to the pump (which, new or rebuilt, is already clean), install and torque to (as I recall) 35 lbs. This way the pump and gasket will come off the block clean (no block scraping) next time you have to change the water pump. BTW, you'll probably get a bare metal pump, which should be painted. I like to use aluminum silver, looks like a high-$ race pump!

You want a nightmare, try changing the water pump on a Mopar 318-360 small block. The "pump" you buy is only the outer half; a large cavity in the block is the inner half. You have to juggle a large perimeter gasket and SEVEN bolts, most of which have accessory brackets that go underneath their heads. It takes at least three hands and lots of patience. Otherwise they are great engines.

Changing a water pump on a 302 isn't any fun either. It's been a while, but as I remember every bolt was a different length, and there was 7 or so.

Gotta love the 4 bolt GM water pumps.


Jason