Replacing water pump on a 2.4, any tips? (Page 1/1) fastblack APR 20, 01:45 PM Water pump went out on my Grand Am and now that I have some free time I can finally get around to replacing it. From what I've read, it sounds like it's going to be a pain in the butt and I'm not looking forward to it. Just hoping somebody out there has been through this and has some tips. I'm going to try to get it out without removing the exhaust manifold just because I foresee breaking bolts. Anyways, any help would be great! GreenPlatypus APR 20, 05:19 PM Invest in the proper holding tools!!! It is very easy to let the timing slip, then you are in a world of hurt. As you have learned the water pump is driven by the timing chain. I can not count how many engines I have had to re-time, fix, or replace a head because the owner thought he could do it himself without the proper tools. Contourd APR 21, 11:23 PM Along with what was posted above, you shouldn't need to remove the exhaust manifold. I've done a couple at work and was able to get away without removing it. They are truly a pain in the butt though. Good luck. fastblack APR 22, 01:57 PM Tell me more about the timing issue. I guess I was assuming that I wouldn't be removing the timing chain itself therefore I wouldn't have to worry about this. Maybe I am missing something here. Any further help would be appreciated! Lambo nut APR 23, 05:39 PM You won't need "remove" the timing chain but will need to remove the tensioner to get the gear of the water pump out and in which could let the cams slip out of phase. They can be checked with just a 5/16 drill bit. There are holes in the cam and corresponding holes in the plate behind them. All this checked when timing mark is in place on the crank gear. A shop manual will come in very handy on this car. And yes, it is a PIA to do the water pump on these cars. Kevin fastblack MAY 15, 12:38 AM Well, I got the SOB out of there and I did so without removing the exhaust manifold. Learned a few things...like I probably could have saved about 2 hours by just taking the 3 nuts off the pump itself and the 2 bolts holding the housing to the block instead of separating the housing from the pump. I thought that removing the housing would make it easier to get to the "back" nut on the pump and it did not. There's about 5 or 6 bolts holding the housing to the pump and a couple of them are a pain in the butt. I stopped by my local Napa today and picked up the things I needed, $250 later I was walking out the door. Funny how a $38 water pump turns into $250. I decided once I was in there to replace the water pump (duh), all gaskets concerning the water pump, thermostat (because some genius decided to locate it at the water pump), timing chain, timing chain tensioner, timing chain guides, and the oil filler cap since I leaned on the original too much and broke it. Also due to the nature of my repairs, the car gets an oil change approximately 1000 miles after it's last one. Oh and a coolant flush and fill which I guess it needed anyway. All this for a car that I do not foresee owning for much more than 6 months. Oh well, I guess some future owner will be happy. Crappy thing is that I can't finish this until the earliest Friday since the gasket kit for the water pump was in Kansas and Thursday morning was the earliest Napa could get it. Well I'm busy for most of the day Thursday and have to work until noon on Friday. Depending on how good a beer sounds on Friday, it may not get done until Saturday...or Sunday. Ehh, it's Fiero driving weather anyway