[twentyone1]

so after a very long day finally got the fan off..... problem. the pulley is still attached. yeah i took the 4 bolts off and everything but i think the pulley is seized onto the pump. how the hell would i be able to take it off???

 

[unixbro]

so after a very long day finally got the fan off..... problem. the pulley is still attached. yeah i took the 4 bolts off and everything but i think the pulley is seized onto the pump. how the hell would i be able to take it off???

take it to your local automotive machine shop or garage with a press and press it off being careful not to bend the pulley.

I had to do the on my s15 blazer.

unixbro

 

[04colyZQ8]

Do you have a vise and a couple pieces of flat bar? Slide two pieces of flat bar under each side of the pulley, ope the vise and rest the flat bar on the vise. Use a brass drift and knock the water pump center hub off the pulley

 

[twentyone1]

ended up using a pickle bar and a rubber mallet. got the job done and all is well.wish i took a pic of how fkd the pump was but eh. in the trash now haha and who ever does this fix, invest in a strap wrench if you dont already have one. and not some super expensive one, Harbor Freight had a two pack for 5$ WIN!

edit: plus pb blaster. awesome stuff.

 

[Bohner]

Another way around the wooden wedge is 90* needle nose pliers their $4 at harbor freight and work just fine in the spanner holes

 

[Sarge]

Instead of using all the homebuilt ideas to get the fan off, why not just go to your local O'Reillys or Autozone and get the fan removal tool on their rental program? I also found if I leave the serpentine belt on while pulling the fan it usually provides enough holding power to loosen the fan. A little anti-sieze on the threads (if you're putting the stock fan back on) keeps things from freezing up.

 

[CopperStar]

I think that I a going to do this when I get a V8 Rad e-fan and tensioner all at once

 

[1BADI5]

I think that I a going to do this when I get a V8 Rad e-fan and tensioner all at once

Thats the way to do it

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[n9cv]

I had to do this job today at 100,000 miles. The pump was not leaking but the pump assembly had a lot of side to side movement in the front pump bearing.

The problem I had was getting the fan clutch loose from the water pump. I "borrowed" O'reilly's fan clutch removal kit and still could not get the thing loose. I tried several things to hold the pulley including the wood wedge, a strap wrench, and an assortment of small pry bars and big screwdrivers. I have taken a lot of this style fan clutch assemblies off before on other vehicles but this one was not going to move.

I finally got a 2 feet long piece of chain. I used The smallest loop size that would allow an 8 mm bolt go through it. I installed the chain under one of the pulley bolts. I ran the other end of the chain up to the engine lifting bracket and secured it there. The pulley now could not turn. Then with the 36 mm open end spanner wrench out of the O'reilly's kit and a BFH hammer I was able to smack the wrench a few times and get the *&!@.. thing off.

The total cost was $2.58 for 2 feet of chain from TSC and $.30 for an 8mm bolt.

It was not a fun job because of the fan clutch removal problem. The rest of the job probably took 45 minutes. I did notice that GM originally used white pipe joint paste on the 5 pump mounting bolts. So I did the same thing on re-installation. Be real careful when installing the pump mounting bolts. The spec was very low like 81 or 89 INCH-pounds. You will have to look it up because I have already forgotten the exact number. If you over tighten the bolts, you will strip out the hole in the aluminum engine block.

Good luck

 

[Colorado Cajun]

Good write up but with one mistake noticed. Silicone and paper gaskets are not a good combination at all. If you use silicone leave the gasket off and you will have a better seal. If you use the gasket than use a sealer such as permatex number two or equilavent. If it is your truck do what you want. But silicone was not designed to be used with a gasket.

 

[#1withacokeplease]

Doing mine tomorrow at 140k miles. Cost me 70$ for parts and coolant from west bay.

 

[Uncanny355]

Bumping this for my use later.

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[Uncanny355]

Just got this done. It was an easy job but I did several other things whole I was in there. I pulled the radiator and cleaned it out. Also cleaned up the motor a bit but it's still dirty. Thanks for the how to. Made it easy

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[Intimidator 355]

Just replaced the water pump today and this how-to was a great reference. Bumping to keep it relevant when searching.

2005 Colorado ZQ8 3.5 w/ 99,500 miles and this is the first real part I've had to replace.

 

[ESB]

Good write up but with one mistake noticed. Silicone and paper gaskets are not a good combination at all. If you use silicone leave the gasket off and you will have a better seal. If you use the gasket than use a sealer such as permatex number two or equilavent. If it is your truck do what you want. But silicone was not designed to be used with a gasket.

I don't know the facts on that so I'll take your word for it. But this new pump and seals has been on longer and for more miles than the original.

 

[evolocomotive]

I ordered a gates pump from Rock Auto and it came with a gasket that says RTV is NOT to be used. I'm a tad uneasy about that, I guess we'll see when I install it.

Edit: Nvr mind its metal thats why no RTV sealant

 

[evolocomotive]

bump

 

[Dramberjon]

Great write up. Mine just went tits up at 88k miles.
Wife wants to help on this project so it is great having pictures to show her before we even start.

 

[colorado zq8]

Looks like I will be changeing mine this weekend.

 

[haasismolasses90]

Thanks for the write up. Just did mine yesterday. Overall it wasn't too difficult of a job, only took a few hours start to finish and I changed my thermostat as well. For me the biggest PITA was breaking the fan clutch hub nut loose. A 12" crescent wrench was big enough to fit the nut but I had to take out two of the pulley bolts first because the head of the wrench was too wide otherwise. And after I couldn't get a wedge to work and not having a strap wrench I stole this idea from a Silverado forum to keep the pulley from turning: I duct-taped half of a tie down strap to the pulley, hooked the hook end of the strap to the engine hoist mount above the alternator, spun the pulley until the strap was tight, got the crescent wrench on the hub nut and knocked it loose with a hammer. After that, nothin to it.