Water pump? How easy or how much shop labor? January 04, 2007, 05:56:29 PM All,I haven't been able yet to get a good look at the area, but is R & R of the water pump on the 5.0 a straightforward, simple procedure?Also, in case I decide not to tackle the job myself, what's the going amount of time for labor for a shop to replace the pump? 1 hour? 1/2 hour?The reason I'm considering that is:1) Weather's been a bit funny (though right now kinda nice)2) I managed to somehow hurt my back - and it hasn't gotten better yet.While normally I'd be most likely to do it myself, that simply may not be possible for me physically at the moment. Also, what may make it a bit harder is that I suspect it's the factory original water pump - 18 years and 110K miles, I'm guessing the bolts might be stubborn, and the gasket won't come off cleanly.I think the car's pisssed because I'm selling it - I actually finally put a "For Sale" sign in the car, and the water pump started piddling, and the power antenna gave up. Next, it'll probably knife me in my sleep one of these days.... Quote Selected
Water pump? How easy or how much shop labor? Reply #1 – January 04, 2007, 08:13:33 PM It took me about 2.5 hours. I could have done it a bit faster, but I was cleaning everything up while I had things apart. I did not have any trouble with the bolts luckily.I unbolted the a/c p/s bracket assembly and wired it out of the way. Then just took off the water pump bolts. I spent alot of time cleaning things up beyond just getting the old gasket off. The gasket removal and cleaning took most of the time.I would suggest getting a new bypass hose while you are at it as it is easiest to just cut the old one off with the old pump. You may also want a new pump to heater tube hose if yours is old. I also bought some new bolts (doorman/help #23744) I got 2 packs which replace all the bolts except the real long one at about the 4 o'clock spot. That bolt was Ok on mine but it is probably a dealer item if you need it.I paid about 50-60 bucks for everything including new coolant. Quote Selected
Water pump? How easy or how much shop labor? Reply #2 – January 04, 2007, 11:24:32 PM No worries,easy stuff.A shop will ream you on costs.Like stated above,just remove the accessory brackets and wire them out of the way,and enjoy. Quote Selected
Water pump? How easy or how much shop labor? Reply #3 – January 05, 2007, 09:46:57 AM Pray that none of those stupid double-ended bolts are corroded, seize in the aluminum front cover or block, and snap off, leaving the threads behind. On Mom's LTD I was lucky, only 3 snapped, all in the cover, all on the top. I managed to drill and re-tap 2 of them after getting some wonderfully expensive replacements from the dealer, the top center one I just drilled right through and used a nut & bolt.On my Bird, I didn't have time, work space, or a spare car to drive, so I had a shop do it. 4 snapped in the cover, plus the big passenger side into-the-block bolt refused to turn. They had to torch the bolt-head off to get the front cover off to re-tap the holes, then weld a nut on the bolt's shaft and heat the block while twisty-turning to get the remains of the bolt out of the hole.The time (and cost) can add up rather quickly if something goes wrong. Quote Selected
Topic: Water pump? How easy or how much shop labor? (Read 770 times)
previous topic - next topic
