Water pump replacement

[brushwood]

I have a '99 Yukon that's leaking coolant. It's dripping down from right beneath the water pump so I'm assuming that it needs to be replaced. I spent over an hour today trying to get the fan off to take a look/replace the pump if needed and it would not budge. The stuff I've read online says that the belt tension should be enough to hold it in place but it's not even close. I gave it a couple doses of W-D40 and tried levering the pulley with a 1x2 but it still wasn't happening. I had the same problem when I replaced the water pump in my car but I got it loose with a LOT less effort. I guess my question is twofold:
#1 Is there some trick to getting that thing off that I am missing?
#2 How much should I expect to pay to take it to a shop to get it done?
I'm basically at the point where I'm going to give up and pay someone else to deal with it.

 

[07Burb]

To get that pulley off you'll need to rent a pulley puller from the local parts store...

 

[brushwood]

To get that pulley off you'll need to rent a pulley puller from the local parts store...

I'm actually not even getting to the part where I'd use the pulley puller (unless I'm misunderstanding something). I can't even get the fan off because the pulley isn't held static by the force of the serpentine belt.

 

[ERIC95TAHOE]

fan clutch wrench made for use with an air hammer is the best route to go. if you want to save money i would just pay someone to pop the fan clutch off and then do it the rest of the way

 

[SunlitComet]

mine came off with whacking an adjustable wrench in the direction of fan rotation to get it loose.

 

[brushwood]

mine came off with whacking an adjustable wrench in the direction of fan rotation to get it loose.

I spent a solid hour doing this and trying to rig something up to prevent the pulley from rotating with the fan since the belt tension wasn't holding it in place.

 

[SunlitComet]

I did not use any thing to hold mine in place but anyway perhaps you can get a pry bar, remove one or two bolts bolt from the pulley and put temp longer bolts to grab around the pry bar. Just a thought. I don't suppose you can still get the pump of as an entire assembly and deal with it removed from the vehicle.

 

[iced98lx]

Going to be doing this tomorrow, so I'll post up how it goes..

 

[AtomicHoe094]

My fan came right off with the 4 bolts holding it :/

also my water pump is leaking, jsut saw it today. Its leaking down inside the actual pulley, like making a little puddle inside the pulley. Not enough right now to piss me off, maybe next yr haha

 

[retorq]

The mechanical fan on a TBI and Vortec are a little different ...

 

[Done Deal DR]

See that's what I was wondering, I've taken it off and back on several times and its just 4 nuts that hold it on. I figured it had to be different on a Vortec from my TBI because nobody, no matter how limited their skills are, could have trouble with it.

 

[AtomicHoe094]

The mechanical fan on a TBI and Vortec are a little different ...

nice to know! lol how soo tho?

 

[99Yuk]

Keep the four bolts...
Use a hammer to give the wrench a good whack.

Vortec fan mount...

 

[AtomicHoe094]

looks the exact same to me besides the center threaded thing.. :/

 

[Done Deal DR]

Yeah I don't have that center thing either.


Nice gatorback belt BTW. I have the same one, super quiet.

 

[99Yuk]

That center threaded thingy is where the mech fan is bolted to the pulley.
The four bolts hold the pulley, center thingy and the fan to the water pump.

I know this first hand because the guys in our shop played a trick on me by having me remove the four bolts first when I did my e-fans.
BTW, don't remove those four bolts. You'll end up putting them back on before you can remove the fan and it's a PITA.

Gator's? Ya, I like em. That one is from an 07 5.3l Avalanche. The UD pulley kit didn't come with a belt, and it said to use some no-name belt. I had to google a cross-reference to get my gatorback.

 

[Motown 454]

Guys I know this is an older thread but I just did mine. I tried with just the tension from the belt and it slipped. So I went to Harborfreight and bought a cheap set of rubber strap wrenches. $3.99. When I got home it took 5 minutes to get the strap wrench over the pulley and part of the belt and then 10 seconds and one tap on the crescent wrench to remove the fan clutch. I hope it helps someone.

 

[schube1255]

There is an easy way to remove that fan bolt without rental.
first spray some teflon lube or blast or something on the nut - let it soak
then put some duct tape around a pair of big vise grips and lock them to the bell housing. the belt must stay on. I even tightened the belt from the tensioner as I unscrewed the fan with a big pair of channellock pliers.
It turned easily and the rest is pretty simple.
Buy a new pump and make sure you have a good seal.
replace the thermostat as well. USE AC DELCO parts only.