Replacing Water Pump

I have 2000, 4.3l v6, 5spd, 2 wheel drive. I have the haynes repair manual and it doesn't look very difficult to replace the water pump. Although the manual never does tell you of the pitfalls to expect. Is it a relatively easy repair? Anything odd to look out for? How long should I expect it to take....never did a water pump before. Thanks.

Go to the junk yard.

Find a engine like yours.

Tell them you want the water pump.

Take off the water pump there. Once you understand how it works, leave and do your own water pump.

Junk yard do not mind long as you put most of the stuff back on.

Sometime they like it since you are helping to break down a motor.

This is one way I learn to rebuild engines.

Well if it's anything like the 4.3L I had in my 90 Blazer it's relatively easy. Just drain off all the coolant, and remove all the items in front of the water pump. Fan, fan shroud, pipes and so on. It took me the better part of a morning to do mine; just take your time and be careful. Make sure you clean and dry everything when you put it back together.

Seriously consider changing belts and hoses while you're at it....

Ok, I replaced the water pump and the thermostat while I was in there. Also a couple of hoses. Got everything back together and refilled the system. Now it overheats. A couple of things to note....I had to compromise on the hose that goes from the water pump to the thermostat housing. It's a pretty sharp bend and the parts store that was open didn't have an exact match so I had to bend it a little more and may be restricting flow a little....not sure. Second, I'm not sure if I bled the air from the system properly. Can air in the system cause it to overheat? I finally got the correct hose and will get that on. After bleeding the air I ran the truck for a while. It got to operating temp and stayed there for a few minutes. Then all of a sudden it shot up and overheated.

Sounds like you still may have a water leak somewhere or a really big bubble. Does it boil over? or just the temp gauge goes through the roof??? Not sure what the water layout is on that vehicle but if you have a cap on the rad pull it off once the vehicle is up to temperature. Be aware that water may spray out. It may just burble a bit but, hopefully you can pull it off and see if your level is low. If you can get somebody to rev the engine up a bit as you try and take the cap off. I've used this technique a few times to debug overheating/Head Gasket problems. Are you sure you got the right pump? Perhaps the impeller is too small for the job. Did you compare them when you pulled the old one off?
Hope one or some of these help. :D

Turned out there was still air in the system. Ran through the bleeding procedure again and it finally let it out like a giant burp. It gurgled through all the hoses then finally bubbled out into the overflow. Thanks.