Changing Water Pump

[DESIGN]

Hey guys,
2003 4.8 2WD Tahoe. Water pump is leaking and although it might just be the seals with just over a 100K on it I am replacing the whole thing tomorrow. Good chance to do some other things like the obvious flush/fill, belts, and thermostat while I'm in there.
My question is this, do you need to remove the Fan in order to remove the pump or is there enough room with the fan still on there? I'm trying to plan out everything and want to know if I should rent the fan clutch removal tool from the store.
Also if you guys know of a good write up (pictures would be great) could you post up the link? I've search and either I suck real bad at it or nothing was out there.

Thanks,
Jon

 

[03_Denali]

To make the job easier you should remove the fan whether you need to or not. You will have to put it on the new pump anyway. I used a pipe wrench, along with a crescent wrench, to get mine off.

Remove the fan shrouds and radiator hoses going to the pump.

Now get a 10mm socket w/extension and remove the 4 (or maybe 6) bolts that hold the pump on.

That's it!! Maybe an hour job...

 

[DESIGN]

Thanks for the info. Hopefully I won't run into any major snags.

 

[Narco]

this doesnt belong in the tech section...

 

[DESIGN]

sorry about that, anyone want to move it?

 

[Rivieraracing]

It's super easy to change the water pump on these trucks, do what is mentioned below and you shouldn't have any problems, be sure to remove the fan while the pump is installed in the truck with the belt on the pulley, makes it a ton easier (at least it was for me)!!

 

[tjr5150]

The easiest way to remove the fan is get a big cresent wrench, adjust it to the size of the bolt directly behind the fan, put it on the bolt then with a decent size hammer give it a couple good smacks and it will knock that nut loose, then you can just spin the fan off... Make sure the belt is on when doing this.

 

[DESIGN]

Thanks for the information again guys. This got pushed back to Sunday so I'll post a follow up after it's done.

Jon

 

[DESIGN]

Well all's well that ends well. Water pump went in with little to no problems. I changed both belts and thermostat while I was in there and the oil afterwards.

So here are my suggestions for others that may search this: Make sure that you pick up a small amount of silicone to tack the gaskets in place. Autozone had some in a small package at the counter specifically for water pump and thermostat gaskets.

Change the AC belt while the water pump is off as it is much easier to reach everything.

Get the biggest catch pan you can find. There is no good way to catch all the coolant. I drained the system via the lower radiator hose at it's connection to the radiator. Although I did this there was still quite a bit of coolant still in the block. Don't be surprised when you take the pump off and it spills out all over the place.

It took about 2-1/3 gallons of coolant to refill the system. 1 gallon of antifreeze, 1 gallon of water, 1 bottle of Red Line's Watter Wetter, and about a 1/3 of another gallon of anti-freeze.

I added the first gallon to the system then started the truck. With the radiator cap off. I then proceeded to add the rest of the fluid allowing the system to circulate it. I then allowed the truck to run for 15-20 minutes with the cap off, heater on, to further force all the air bubbles out the surge tank.

Thanks for all the advice and help.

Jon