92' Water Pump and Belt Tensioner

Hey Guys,

I just had my 92' 3.1L Corsica inspected and the high speed emission test (NY 60MPH) just blew my water pump. Bummer. The shop also informed me that the belt tensioner looked like it was falling off.

Anybody have any tips and/or repair manuals they could share? It looks like things are pretty tight in there. I have the Haynes manual but its too many years/models/engines to be much help.

Also, I have a broken drivers side door latch. Can anybody guide me to where I can pick one up other than the junk yard and whether its an easy repair?

Thanks for any and all help. Love my little rocket and am not ready to give it up just yet.

SMF

Not a real bad job, but yes a tight fit. Might pick up a haynes manual at Advance if you want to, but the biggest pain is the belt. What i found that worked easiest for me was a large crescent wrench, rather than a belt removal tool. My 91 has a squared area at the end and I found that a large wrench, opened to just the right size grips well and you can easily push or pull to relieve pressure on the belt. With tension on the tensioner loosen the belt off the alternator and remove the belt. The tensioner SHOULD come off with a single bolt, but I have not done this for a long time. I did though just replace the pump and radiator on the 91 my son drives. Drain as much fluid out of engine as you can, or have something under car to catch the fluid thet comes out as you work. The pump is not too tough but can be a problem with the four bolts on the pulley. What I would do is remove one bolt BEFORE removing the belt, easier that way, remove the belt and then stick a screwdriver in the hole to help hold the pump still until other bolts come out. Pry off the pump, and clean the surface well. Install the pump with a small amount of silicone on one side of the gasket, to hold it onto the block. Install the pump(can be a pain to align up the holes, be patient) and tighten the first three bolts by holding with the screwdriver. Then after you install the tightener put tension on it with the wrench and install the belt. Last thing to put it on is alternator. Then install the last bolt in pump. Be sure to use threadlock on the bolts!. I saw one come loose and almost go thru a hood so be sure to do this. Then put in anti freeze and purge air out. Should be a bleed screw on yours to help out. This is pretty condensed, but hope it helps...

Thanks for the info.

Do you know if the Belt tensioner bolt screws into aluminum or steel threads? Shop said the tensioner was almost falling off and he couldn't see the bolt. He thought it may have backed out. I'll make sure to use threadlock when I repair it anyway. Also, what major/minor assemblies need to be removed first to do this job?

There is a single bolt, pretty sure it goes into steel. The tensioner usually falls apart, not likely the bolt is loose. My GM service manual says to tighten to 40 ft lbs, which is failry snug. You need to remove the coolant overflow tank. That is all as that will open up enough room to work on it. Other than that you are removing the belt, some coolant, the radiator hose from the pump area, possiblty a heater hose, although I do not think so. It really won't be a problem, just takes time. A bad time to do it though with it being cold.
The thread sealant (lok-tite) is to be used on pump pulley bolts(4). Should not have to use it on the other water pump bolts, or the tensioner bolt. I would suggest you get a good NEW pump, rather than a rebuilt one. new ones are cheap.

One thing more, if your tensioner does not have a squared area at the top, you may have to borrow a belt removal tool, from Advance auto. However I have replaced several belts on various Corsicas (for friends) and I always have been able to use either a large crescent wrench or a set of vise grips. Not a lot of room to work with. My son had a 94 Beretta which is similar to a Corsica(they use the SAME GM manual) but his belt routed thru his motor mounts and was nearly impossible to replace. Yours should be like mine, not so tough.

Great... Thanks jsgold... much appreciated.

One last thing, is a 91 corsica shop manual the same for the 92 corsica with a 3.1L? Now I'll stop asking questions and go do some work.


Thanks again for all your help.

I am not 100% positive, never owned a 92, BUT, if yours is multi-port fuel injected, it should be identical to yours. Even if it is not there won't be any differences in your pump etc. I double checked Advance auto parts web page, identical parts as far as tensioner, belt, and pump.

Thank You jsgold...

I just finished replacing the Belt Tensioner and Water Pump today. Total Cost @ $100 vs. @ $450 at the shop. The Belt Tensioner was a little difficult as I had to buy a 1/2" flexible socket and unbolt it through the wheelwell. Man was that bolt tight. As soon as the bolt came out the entire thing fell apart. I was a little disappointed that the new one had a plastic pulley but I guess thats the way parts are nowadays.

The Water Pump was any easy job per your helpful comments. Removed coolant overflow tank and three hoses. The hardest part was getting the old pulley off, cleaning off the old hardened gasket, and figuring out how much RTV to use. No leaks so far

Again I thank you for giving me the courage and knowledge to do this job myself. If anyone needs help I would gladly share my experience, and pics.

The next job was removing the drivers door latch which had been broked for about a year. I drilled out three rivets and unbolted three torx bolts and it came right out. Seems like the problem was little spring (probably $.05). I'll have to check the local hardware store or try the junk yards, unless anyone has another source. It should pose any difficulty.

Thanks again.

SMF

Hm, sounds like everything went through okay. I have a 90 V6, and I can’t tell if I need the belt that goes w/ the ac or w/out. I mean I looked inside the car, there is no ac button, but there is a little snow flake sign on the climate control. So I'm thinking that’s my ac. If I’m wrong please tell me, because I’m doing my belt tomorrow, and I have no experience what so ever. But I see that removing the coolant box helps to make room, but I'm not sure if I want to mess with that.

You really need to remove the coolant tank because it is almost impossible to do it otherwise. Should be a belt guide to show where it goes back or you can check the Haynes manual. Most of these cars had a/c. Look under car for a compressor, also look at front of radiator. If you have a/c there is a flat "condensor" which is same size as radiator, and sits in front of it. Very flat. Has a line running to it at top of radiator.