Hey all just trying to find some clarity on all the info on here

wifes 2000 z24 convertible needs a water pump in a bad way. I'm not a mechanic but i know what im doing for the most part and my shop is pretty much fully equipped

this is what i gather so far

it's a bitch
if its 5 speed (it is) i don't need to remove the exhaust manifold
change the thermostat while i'm there

question,

Do i really need to replace the gears and tensioner and all the @!#$ or can i just swap out the pump thermostat and seals?

in reality this car has 333000km on the factory water pump, and if it gets another 50k out of it ill be a happy guy

take the exhaust mani out, its easier even if you have a 5 speed. no you don't need to replace anything in the timing case unless something is bad. its mostly just a piece of mind type thing. better to replace wearable items while you're in there rather than have a problem down the road cause the tensioner went bad, or one of the guides blew apart. especially if everything is factory on high milage. its not really too hard of a job to do otherwise.

if your going to do out might as well replace the timing stuff. but if you really don't want to look it over really good and make sure it all seems ok

Yeah go ahead and replace all that stuff. I took the exhaust manifold off on my car (5 spd) and as I was putting it back together I realized I probably could have done it without removing it. It will make life easier though. The day before you start all these shenanigans, spray all the rust stuff with pb blaster. Also be carefull that when you wedge something between the crank pulley and the timing chain housing that you don't mess the housing up. I did and had to replace the whole thing.

all done WHat a BITCH. never again will i do it without removing the manifold, you can do it but holy hell its a pain in the ass.


i'll post a picture of the old pump the bearing was so bad the impeller dug a gouge in the housing

Do you need to remove the Timeing cover? does the pump run directly off the chain or can I do it w/o touching the chain?


Fireboy153
Brady Fire Co. - Station 150
Long Live The Sunflower! (yea its not so "cool")

Yes you have to remove the timing cover, yes you have to remove the timing componants in there because the pump runs off the chain.










~2014 New Z under the knife, same heart different body~
______________________
WHITECAVY no more
2012 numbers - 4SPD AUTOMATIC!!
328 HP
306 TQ

Going to be doing this job next week probably at my shop... I'm a mechanic apprentice. but still scared @!#$less doing this job... The pump has been leaking on and off for 2 years almost and just yesterday it starting making an awful racket... So I shut her down ASAP to avoid the pump seizing, snapping the chain, and messing up the valves. So definitely worth taking the manifold out eh? Any other pointers? I was thinking of just marking the chain position on the crank and cams, compress the tensioner and slip the chain off the pump gear only, then slip it back on when I put the new one back in... is that doable? Any other gaskets I need? Front housing, tstat housing, manifold and exhaust gasket?

Please, any shortcuts would be appreciated... I don;t want to spend 8 hours doing this as the book calls for.

I would go ahead and change the thermostat and gasket while your doing it. My car is an auto so I took my exhaust manifold off and changed the gasket as well. I used 2 8 mm bolts to put in the cam gears so they wont turn. Mine still turned like halve a tooth or something though I think. My biggest problem while doing this wasnt the timing chain but dealing with where the motor mount bracket bolts to the block. Those 3 bolts are a huge pain.

So I started on it today... I feel sorry for you automatic owners.. LOL. I DID remove the exhaust manifold, its just easier and gives you a good amount of room. And YES those three engine mount bolts in the block are stupid hard! The top two were easy, I jacked the engine up high enough to take them out, and the bottom one, I left it in the mount itself and it BARELY slipped out between the frame and engine. I went against all suggestions that everyone gave and did not replace the chain and tensioner. I'm on a budget, and I know its a huge risk. That being said, I didn't have to retime anything... I marked the crank and chain JUST IN CASE, put the bolts in the cams of course to keep them from moving, and for added measure, I zip tied the chain to the intake cam as the chain went onto the sprocket, then zip tied the chain to the exhaust sprocket as the chain left the sprocket. Everything stayed put as I took the tensioner and shoe off, which gave the slack to slip the chain off the pump and slide the pump out and install the new one. Now I just have to put all the other crap together, replace the water jacket on the drivers side (noticed the leak while under the car), and pray to the gods when I start it up!!

One weird thing though, I was expecting to see scoring on the pump housing and/or a rough turning pump.... nothing and no.... So I'm hoping my diagnosis was right!! It's been leaking through the weaping hole for 2 years, and has been whining for a year and all of a sudden it turned to grinding, which when I shut it down and towed it to work. The belt tensioner seems good too.. so I'm pretty confident its the pump that was making the awful noise.

Update.... Water pump was NOT the narsty noise, twas the alternator.... BUT the pump WAS leaking for the past two years on and off... so no big loss and gained some experience.