Better Beaters - Building Cars and Daily Drivers

 Changing the water pump Part Two. Now for some crying!

 We have seen this little guy before.

C'mon buddy, get a grip!

I should be ashamed to admit that I've BEEN this guy before!

I might be feeling like him again.

Why isn't anything easy?

A better question is why I don't make things easier on myself.

Replacing the water pump on my Riviera has turned out to be harder than I anticipated, even though I knew going in, that there would be problems. 

The problems might be better described as complications, and frustrations.

At one time I would have advised myself to stay away from vehicles that had more complications than I would be willing to deal with. I would usually choose the more basic, straightforward models. One reason that I've stayed away from four wheel drive trucks. That's why I stayed away from early FWD El Dorados. At one time, I even thought that I should avoid cars with fuel injection. That would be pretty hard to do now.

Since I once worked for GM at an assembly plant, I'd seen new cars being built on an assembly line. I'd seen just how they were assembled. Most component assemblies were assembled on a separate line, then installed as a unit. Dashboards for example, were assembled on a movable "arm like" hanging fixture. Then, it was swung into the car through the windshield opening, before that was installed. No wonder reaching some of the light bulbs are such a pain to access once the car is put together! They were installed from behind the dash before assembly. Likewise with the motor. It was installed completely assembled in the frame, before the body was dropped on. Then the inner and outer fenders were bolted on. 

I suppose that the engineering staff that designed the car took maintenance and repair operations into consideration, but they usually weren't the priority.

One of the "benefits" of dealing with dealership mechanics is that they are specifically trained to work on current models. They also have access to any special tools that are needed and allow them to work more efficiently. Not to mention that they also receive dealer service bulletins from the factory. These advise of specific service problems and concerns that the factory has been advised about.

Of course the dealer is loath to work on old, obsolete, out of production models. Which are exactly the kind that I choose to buy!

The manufacturer designs and builds the car to last through the warranty period and to provide the original owner with several years of reliable trouble free service. The components are spec'd to provide a reasonable service life.

The older I get, I can see why some people only buy or lease, brand new cars. They'll keep them through warranty and then trade them in on a new model. This avoids a lot of problems by owning a car that doesn't usually need any repairs at all. And if it does, it's covered under warranty and the dealer will provide a loaner vehicle during the repair period. 

This doesn't do anything for people like me that have many vehicles well advanced into their original service lives. Some might be considered as past their original service life. They are kind of the "senior citizens" of the car world. As a senior myself, I know that their care and feeding is rife with potential problems. In fact, many have one foot in the grave and another on a banana peel! 

There has been a big development for owners of older cars that makes our lives much easier; the internet. 

While online videos don't always illustrate what the exact procedure is, or the potential problems that might arise, they do give a good overall look at what the job entails.

All of this is just a prelude to what I experienced changing the water pump on my Riviera. There were a few problems, and plenty of challenges. 

There's another bolt under this one.

There was a water pump bolt located behind the power steering pump pulley. This required me to put a socket/extension through two holes that the manufacturer had thoughtfully provided in the pulley. I unbolted the pump in this manner. This was not too bad, then the pump could be pushed aside allowing access to remove the water pump bolt.

There's no way that the bolt will come out.

Then I got to a point where I ran into a bolt that could not be removed, after it was loosened, because of interference with the supercharger belt idler pulley. This idler pulley mounts to a long pedestal like structure. I initially thought that I could remove or loosen the mounting bolts and move the mount to the side just enough to allow the bolt to escape, but no dice. 

The idler pulley would have to be unbolted from the mount. Unfortunately that requires removal of the upper right side engine torque brace. That consists of a large aluminum structure that bolts to the engine block in three locations. That bolts to a shock absorbing bracket that bolts to the right frame rail structure. 

The aluminum mount is removed by removing the nuts holding it on, then the studs/spacers themselves are unscrewed from the block. The engine has to be supported before this is attempted. There is some raising and lowering of the engine required to wiggle the bottom stud out. 

Once this was loose, I realized that to remove the idler pulley, I'd have to remove the cylindrical rubber torque mount, this was actually pretty easy. I popped this out, and then removed the idler pulley and the old water pump was free!

Then it was just a matter of cleaning the gasket mounting surfaces, cleaning and wire bushing the pump mounting bolts as well as the studs. Pretty boring but necessary work. 

After this I took a break.

My goal was to install the new water pump, then knock off for the night. 

I'll finish up this project in another day or so, and report back in a future post.