Cooling problem 2001 Grand AM GT V6

Hello I have a 2001 Grand Am GT.
I have 2 problems. The car has 77,000 miles on it.

First problem:
I have a head gasket leak on the driver side. I see that this seams to be a big problem with this type of car. Dose anyone know if there is any type of re-call on this? The dealer here is San Jose said $2500. I dont know who would pay that when you can go somewhere else to get much cheaper.

Anyways...
Second Problem:
My water pump is going out. I have heard that this involves taking out the engine? I know to change the belt you have to take off the one side ont he motor mount. Is this a easy driveway fix? The pump is cheap ($35.00). Any help with this is greatly appreciated.

Thank you... Cary

Welcome raiderjr. You didnt specify what engine, but $2500 will buy a new engine. Thats way to much.

The water pump is an easy fix, you will need a tool to remove the belt. You dont need to remove the belt totally, by removing the engine mount. Just loosen the belt, slip it off the pullies. You will want to loosen the 4 bolts that hold the pully to the water pump before you loosen the belt. Theres like 4-5 bolts that hold the small pump into the engine. They are tiny these days.

The bad water pump could be contributing to the over heating and blowing of a head gasket. Their were no recalls that I now of. Hope this helps.

Thanks for advice. I do the the RAM-AIR V-6. I noticed that you have the chrome ar pipe for the "cold air intake" did you really see any improvments with that? Horsepower or gas mileage? I'm here in the Bay Area where gas is $3.15 for 87oct. It looks like you have some upgrades in your grand am. I just put in a Siruis radio. I was going to get a new deck with it built in but I heard you will loose your steering wheel controls unless you buy a $100 cable and have it put it, this all sounded way to much for my (I hate working with wires in cars). Anyways the water pump was getting worse today so i took it to a local shop here and they put in a new one for $140 including parts & labor...Cant beat that. Once again thanks for the help.

Yes it is a neet ram air set up. If you look you'll see the duct work pionting to the throtle body are, it keeps it cooler. The Ram air came out of a junk yard. The CIA is really sweat, improved performance and alittle mpg. 3-4 more Mpg, maybe even up to 5mpg, if you keep your foot out of it and on highways trips. Its been $2.97-98 for 87 oct. here in Indiana for a couple weeks now. It went way over $3 right after Katrina.

I like the steering wheel controls, we are so lazy these days, if I change my stereo I'd get the hundred dollar cord and copy/make several more to sell. I did put a JVC DvD in the glove box and some tiny monitors in back for my kids. Had it wired into the car stereos speakers by the guys where I bought the dvd receiver.

$140s is a decent price for/in NJ.