Replacing water pump on L98?
Thread Starter
Burning Brakes
Joined: Nov 2002
Posts: 895
Likes: 3
From: Washington MO
Replacing water pump on L98?
How big of a PITA is it to replace the water pump on an L98 engine? A buddy of mine had his go out and we were thinking of doing it ourselves if its not to much of a hassle. By the look of things, there seems to be a whole lot of stuff that has to be removed just to get the pump off. Anyone have a link that would help us out? TIA
Zane
Zane
Racer
Joined: Oct 2004
Posts: 435
Likes: 0
From: Seattle WA
Sorry, I don't have a link to any instructions, but it's not very hard. It is a lot of tiem though. Basically you just remove things until you can get to the water pump. My girlfriend and I did it on her 86 and I think we ended up removing most of the accessories. I know the AC had to be unbolted so that it could be moved out of the way, and a few other things too. It'll take a few hours the first time, but it's definately worth it to get to know your car better and save some money by doing it yourself.
Team Owner
Joined: Dec 1999
Posts: 34,873
Likes: 487
From: Lacey WA RVN 68-69
NCM Sinkhole Donor
It is a matter of unbolting things and removing or pushing them out of the way to get to the water pump. Unfortunately, there are lots of pieces that attach to the front of the motor that you have to get thru.
My 87 has a large aluminum bracket that just about all the components attach to. There are two fuel lines that have to be separated but they are not a big issue. There are lots of hoses, tubes and pieces for the air pump so you have to remember where they all go during the re-install.
Doing stuff like this is one good reason to have a GM Service Manual. Not only does it give you a step-by-step procedure and some pics, but also the torque specs for the major bolts.
Work slow and if you have not done this type of work before, you might want to document what is removed and in what order. Use a digital camera or just write things down as you go.
As long as you are going ro R&R the pump, you should also get new upper and lower radiator hoses and replace as many of the small coolant hoses as you can. Some are pre-bent but a few are just straight pieces. Get new hose clamps and align them so you can see the screw head from above. New hoses and clamps may seep a bit after a few heating and cooling cycles and if you can see the screw head, it makes it easy to tighten them down again.
A new serp belt wouldn't hurt either.
My 87 has a large aluminum bracket that just about all the components attach to. There are two fuel lines that have to be separated but they are not a big issue. There are lots of hoses, tubes and pieces for the air pump so you have to remember where they all go during the re-install.
Doing stuff like this is one good reason to have a GM Service Manual. Not only does it give you a step-by-step procedure and some pics, but also the torque specs for the major bolts.
Work slow and if you have not done this type of work before, you might want to document what is removed and in what order. Use a digital camera or just write things down as you go.
As long as you are going ro R&R the pump, you should also get new upper and lower radiator hoses and replace as many of the small coolant hoses as you can. Some are pre-bent but a few are just straight pieces. Get new hose clamps and align them so you can see the screw head from above. New hoses and clamps may seep a bit after a few heating and cooling cycles and if you can see the screw head, it makes it easy to tighten them down again.
A new serp belt wouldn't hurt either.
