I was teaching my 18 year old son how to drive my 2000 tonight when all of a sudden we heard a screeching noise and then saw some smoke coming from under the hood. He shut it down and when I popped the hood I found that the drive belt had broken. I was able to limp home by coasting most of the way down hill with the engine off. I got a new belt at the local Auto Zone but after putting it on an starting the car it made a terrible screeching. I shut it down and tried to see why it was making this noise. When I tried to turn the water pump pulley with out the belt on it, it wouldn't move. I'm assuming that I've got a frozen water pump and that would cause the belt to break. But the car has only 41K miles on it and I had no previous indication of the water pump going out (ie. overheating or coolant leakage). Anyone else experience a frozen water pump with no prior symptoms?

Also, from some of the other posts on the Forum, it seems that replacing the water pump is not a difficult job and after market pumps can be had at Auto Zone for around $133. However, the one thing I can't figure out is that it looks like the water pump pulley is pressed on and whether or not after market water pumps come with these pulleys. If not, can my pulley be taken off the old pump and put on a new pump or do I need to buy a new pump that has the pulley? Your help is greatly appreciated.

 

It's a safety feature GM put in to keep 18 year olds from driving Corvettes.
I looked it up in the service manual and it shows pictures of the pump and lists step by step removal instructions, but never mentions or shows pictures of the pump having a pulley. The picture doesn't even show a place for a pulley. Sorry, but I've never changed one myself, I'm sure someone who has will give you the facts.

 

Fortunately I havent had this problem, yet, but am assuming if the pulley is pressed on, usually Autozone or whoever you purchase from can make the switch for you. Havent done it for the Vette, but for another car that had a pressed on pulley, A/zone did it for free.

 

My pump failure symptom was a slight drip at the shaft. I used the OEM pump and it comes with the pulley and stat attached.

Get the OE one from Fitchners or Gene Culley (forum vendors) for around the same price as an after market. You can also ask your local dealer to price match the vendor price.

You have a '00 with neoprene gaskets which make the process eaiser than it was on our '98 with the paper gaskets that had to be scraped from the block.

A warning - do not put any weight on the surge tank or the nipple that connects to it or either or both may crack.