Install a Water Pump on a 1994 Pontiac Grand Am 2.4 Liter

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Steps

1. Drain all the coolant from the engine. Most likely, your old water pump has failed and most of the coolant has already leaked out, so there might not be much coolant in the pump. Be sure to dispose of the old coolant properly, as it is poisonous and could be lethal to unsuspecting animals.
2. Remove the exhaust manifold, since the water pump is located right below it. On the manifold there is a heat cover along with an oxygen sensor. Remove both the heat cover and the oxygen sensor. There are 10 bolts connecting the exhaust manifold to the engine. 9 of the bolts you can reach from the top of the car that connects the manifold to the block. Remove these 9 bolts. We will get to the tenth in a couple more steps.
3. Disconnect the exhaust pipe from the exhaust manifold. You will need to jack up the car to do this. Once underneath the car, you will see two bolts connecting the pipe to the manifold. These bolts have springs on them (I think it's to ensure consistent tension). You will need to loosen one a couple of turns and then loosen the other a couple of turns, switching back and forth between the bolts until you get them out. By now, the pipe should be free from the manifold and you should be able to pull it back and down to disengage it from the manifold. There will be a little ring spacer between the manifold, and the pipe should fall free when you do this so watch your head.
4. Take off the last bolt. You will be able to see it from under the car: It will be directly under the spot where the pipe and manifold join.
5. After you have removed the last bolt, the manifold should be free, so take that puppy out of there. You're now to the easy part.
6. You should be able to see the water pump housing, it's located on the left hand side of the engine in the back. The cover will have two bolts going into the block of the engine, two going down to the where the thermostat is mounted, and 5 going to where the water pump is mounted. These are all 10mm bolts. Just loosen them, and the housing should come free; the housing also has a hose coming out of the front of it that runs underneath the exhaust manifold to the other side of the engine. Disconnect the hose and take the whole housing out.
7. Now you should see the water pump. It will have 4 bolts connecting it to the engine. Take these out and it should slide right out of there.
8. If the water pump does not slide out with ease, you have to take the tension off of the timing chain which drives the water pump. For this you need to support the engine either from above with an engine lift or from below with a jack and block of wood. Once the engine is supported, it is time to take off the engine mounts.
9. First you need to remove the secondary coolant tank. This is located on the left hand side of the engine. It is supported by locking slots and one bolt. Take the bolt out and slide the tank out of the slots. Disconnect the back two hoses on the tank and move it out of the way.
10. Now you should be able to see the first engine mount. WITH THE ENGINE SUPPORTED, start taking off the bolts. Once you have them off, save them and go to the store to get new ones. You have to get new bolts for engine mounts once they are removed because they stretch and lose their strength.
11. Next you disconnect the brake fluid booster hose from the engine and remove the other two mounts.
12. The car should still be raised from when you removed the exhaust manifold. carefully lower the car with the engine supported to raise the engine.
13. Start taking off the timing chain cover bolts. (You might want to drain the oil out of the engine before you do this since it will probably run out.) Once the cover is off you should be able to see the tensioners. Remove these to release the chain from the gear of the water pump. Once this is done, it should slide right out.
14. Clean off the old gasket and the water pump cover. Take your time and make sure you get them clean.
15. Apply sealer onto the gasket and then put the gaskets on. Also, while you have it all apart, consider replacing the thermostat.
16. Start putting everything back together. Apply bolt grease on all the bolts before reinserting them, so in case the water pump breaks again, you won't have to struggle w/ seized bolts.
17. Before putting the manifold back on, put some water into the radiator to make sure you don't have any leaks. If everything checks out okay, then put the rest of it back together. If it sounds like too much work, feel free to visit your mechanic.

Tips

• At the very least you should get a book to help you with this. It may not have many instructions, but pictures will be very helpful.
  • A note on the listed title, 1994 Grand Am's have a 2.3L engine. If your engine says 2.4L, it is a 1996 or newer.
• This is pretty complicated. If you are not a mechanic at all, you might consider taking it to a shop.

Warnings

• Do not use this as your only reference. You may encounter problems not covered in this article.

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See also

• Diagnose a Cooling System Problem
• Flush a Radiator
• Check Radiator Hoses
• Stop an Engine from Overheating
• Tell if a Car's Water Pump Needs Replacement
• Seal a Leaking Radiator
• Cool an Overheated Engine
• Replace a Leaking Radiator Hose
• Tell if Your Car's Thermostat Is Stuck Closed
• Change a Car Radiator

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