93 Lasabre Water Pump

[Josephemma]

How hard is to change the water pump on 3.8 liter V6 engine myself?

[gbeeley]

I replaced the pump on my '91 myself; it seems like one of the easier water pumps to replace, as water pumps go anyhow. Not sure about the '93 in comparison to the '91.

A few tips (I assume you're familiar with doing routine stuff like changing the coolant, etc., and also assume you have a manual showing the basics on how to do this job):

- Use a new GM pump. They cost 2x as much as other pumps, but they are worth it for how long they last. Even if some other brand offers a really nice warranty, go with the GM part; remember that you are the one that gets to replace the thing again if it goes bad My GM replacement pump has over 60k miles on it now and is showing no signs of problems.

- You will have to clean *all* of the old pump gasket material off of the timing cover (the pump mounts on the front of the timing chain cover). The timing cover is aluminum and thus easy to damage. This is the most time consuming part of the job. I think NAPA sells a gasket remover that works well but MUST be carefully & sparingly used (don't get any of it in the cooling system) and then *thoroughly* washed off.

- I always use distilled water instead of tap water to mix w/ the antifreeze when refilling the cooling system.

- Torque the bolts on properly when installing the new pump.

- The bigger bolts on the water pump I believe will need thread sealer (note: not thread locker).

[charston]

Brush up on your profanity. You will need every bad word you ever heard, and you will probably invent a few new ones.

I've done a couple of water pumps on my '92 (234k miles) and have had problems with bolt clearance. I managed to get it without removing the motor mount, but just barely. If I had the tools, I would have taken out the mount and had room to work.

[wrightz28]

Ir you have a top side engine mount (or not for that matter), the easiest way to give yourself more room than you know what to do with, is to remove the passanger side front tire and take the access panel out of the wheel well, that's what it's there for, to access the front of the engine. It's an easy pump to do, it takes longer to clean the gasket material off than it does to mount & dismount.

May I may a suggestion?

If you haven't done so, now would also be a good time to replace your timing set.

[Smith1000]

I replaced the water pump on my 97 Lesabre. It was pretty straight forward. It took about an hour, maybe a little longer. It has been awhile since I did it, but the way to go is to take the right front wheel off and move the plastic fender piece out of the way. On mine, the pump was probably okay, but the gasket was leaking. Seems like the new pump was only about $35. From what I recall, I had to move some other mounting brackets out of the way from the top first in order to get to it.