64Chevy

I just bought a rebuilt water pump for my 2001 Tahoe. Any tips on how do this? Looks like a big job. Do I need to remove the radiator? How do I remove the fan from the old water pump? Were is the adjustment to remove the tension on the serpentine belt? My old pump started squealing about 6000 miles ago and continues to get worse. It does not leak - I tried lubricant but that doesn't work for long.

amac209

you can use a 3/8" rachet or breaker bar to remove the belt but you have to get the fan off first. to remove the fan you need a 1 7/16" wrench and a good sized hammer. put the wrench on the fan cluch and smack the end of the wrench to turn the clutch counter clockwise. it might take a few hits to break it loose. you don't need to remove the rad just the fan shroud and you'll have enough room. the rest of the job is pretty straight forward. good luck!!

glenncof

1997 Tahoe - 118K miles

First, I have never had pump squel, they leak out weep hole. I have upper roller on serpintine belt chirping now. Goes away when I spray lub on it.

I have done water pump twice. My first replacement pump was new Chinese and had early fail. Basically:

3/8" bearker bar on tensioner to remove s-belt. Make sure you look at label on shroud for re-install.

Remove fan shroud. Remove fan/clutch, I used small pipe wrench and rubber strap wrench to hold pulley.

Pull old pump. Four bolts as I recall.

Success will be measured by how clean mating surfaces are so I use razor blade. Also get Permatex water pump RTV.

Normally I put the dressing and gasket on removal part. Next time I'll try putting it on the block to hold gasket inplace.

Careful when re-attaching fan/clutch to new pump, don't want to cross-thread.

Ketch

you can also buy a pulley holding tool, I got the OReilly parts store to order me one cost $25, give more leverage than a strap wrench although strap wrench will do if you must.

Do not hit the wrench with a hammer. You could damage or crack the block because the pump is hard bolted into the engine.


be carefull - razor blades can catch, dig in and nick the surface; better to use a proper gasket scraper and also a cleaning solvent.