Coolant leak on passenger side

[daguse5853z]

Yeah you have to take the belt off to change the water pump but its really not that hard at all. I''d say I could change the water pump in my 01 3400 in under a hour.

[nikosuave8896]

I know I have to take off pieces such as the motor mount etc?

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[DTMAce]

No. Just pop the belt loose, put it to the side and remove the bolts that hold the pump in its housing. Pretty simple.

[nikosuave8896]

Lol how do I take the belt off then?

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[nikosuave8896]

I took a few more pics as its dried up and sunny out as I went outside after driving home last night I found a surprise under the car Lols


If you can see there's two puddles

Heres where its dripping from



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[SuzukiGhostRider]

Be sure to loosen the 4 water pump pulley bolts BEFORE pulling the serpentine belt. Then , release tension, remove the belt and put it to the side to avoid removing the motor mount (as Ace suggested) , and unbolt the water pump. You will lose some coolant , so be ready for it. Also, the pump may not just "fall out". It may require a little "coaxing". Installation is the reverse of removal. Top off coolant. Start car.

Notes: Be sure to use new water pump gasket. I would also recommend changing the t-stat at this time.

[nikosuave8896]

Okay its just how do I get to the tensioner to release tension on the belt since its burried so low and how would I feed it back on since all the pulleys are far below. Another thing is how would I know the pumps bad? Would.there be noticable signs cause I didn't see any moisture around the pulley or anything.I guess it has to come.off to really know?

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[SuzukiGhostRider]

Well, the fact that it appears to be spitting coolant is a sure sign. The weep hole's design purpose is to release coolant when the bearing or impeller start going bad causing malfunction.

For the tensioner they make an adapter tool you can "loan-a-tool" from your local parts store. Or , you can be like me, and get creative with the ratchet. It's possible , believe me, I've done it.

As to the waterpump, when you pull it, I'd be willing to bet money the impeller blades will be worn or rusted and/or the bearing will be shot. When you get it out, if you can wiggle the impeller back and forth and get ANY shaft play the bearing is shot.

[nikosuave8896]

Could I take off the wheel and get in that way? That mount just blocks all access

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[SuzukiGhostRider]

To what? The tensioner pulley? Yes.

[nikosuave8896]

Okay so let me get this straight loosen the water pump pulley bolts first then find a way to ease tension on belt take belt off then take out pump? How would I feed the belt back on

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[SuzukiGhostRider]

Yes, you want to loosen the pulley bolts first. Makes life MUCH easier getting the pulley off.

1. Loosen WATER PUMP pulley bolts.
2. Remove serpentine belt by rotating the tensioner to relieve tension on the serpentine belt. (You can just let it drop down so you don't have to remove the motor mount to take it all the way off. Then when you are ready to reinstall, just re-feed it back onto all the pulleys.)
3. Remove WP pulley.
4. Remove WP itself by unbolting it and pulling straight out towards passenger side of car.
5. Clean mounting surface of WP area. Use a LIGHT amount of RTV to adhere the new paper seal to the new WP.
6. Install and bolt down WP.
7. Install and finger tighten WP pulley and bolts.
8. Re-install serpentine belt.
9. Tighten WP pulley bolts with wrench to snug them up. This is done with the serpentine belt ON to keep the pulley from spinning on you as easily when torquing down the WP pulley bolts.
10. Top off coolant.
11. Start engine.

[nikosuave8896]

Just removing the bolts alone will it release tension?

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[DTMAce]

SGR is talking about the bolts on the pulley for the water pump. Loosening them, will not release the belt, but if you try to take those bolts off without removing the belt first, your belt tension may snap the pulley off fast and hurt you. So loosen those four bolts. Then you can turn the wheel, pull the lower passenger skirt out of the way and using the belt tensioner tool or a slim 3/8" ratchet, you can move the tensioner to release the belt tension. IT HELPS if you have someone there with you to do this, trust me. I usually move the tensioner with a long prybar, cause I'm lazy that way, but it works for me, plus if I'm good and quick I can flip the belt off by myself, just don't get your fingers between the belt and any pulley at ANY point during removal or installation. You can wind up pinching them pretty good. But if you have someone either holding the tensioner so the belt is loose, or there to move the belt when you get it loose, that will make life a whole lot easier.

[nikosuave8896]

I'm gonna have someone helping me get this thing loose but the four bolts I'm taking.off are they connected to the tensioner? Sorry I'm just confused I don't wanna get hurt

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