Ok, my wife'* Bonnevilles'* water pump has sprung a leak. I have never replaced a water pump before but after looking at the procedure for my own car (2000 Buick Regal GS), it does not seem too bad. What I need to know is, where can I get a good water pump (Autozone has them for about $45, full kit and Limited Lifetime Warranty and GMPD has MY water pump for about $65 shipped). I'm not sure if mine is the same as hers or not. I suspect not. Which leads to the next question, does anyone have any way to find the part number for this thing? If you do, I would appreciate it. Last but not least, I assume the procedure for replacing one of these is similar to my car, but there is a motor mount present right where I need to work. Do I need to disconnect this to get at the pump? For what its worth, it is a N/A 96 Pontiac Bonneville SE. No supercharger to worry about on this one.

Thanks in advance!

Howdy, neighbor (sort of).

This is the procedure for the WP change: http://www.bonnevilleclub.com/techinfo/?article=48

And the part numbers:

92-95: 12482919
96-99: 12482903

I think the Autozone unit will probably be fine, as long as the warranty sounds good, but my preference would always lean to AC Delco OEM.

Thanks for the info! With this not being a supercharged model, does that mount still have to be removed? I looked around here before posting and found conflicting reports of whether it need to be removed or not on the NA version.

If only it were a W-body like mine, no motor mounts to contend with...

Ah well, chalk it up to a learning experience.

Need someone to chime in here. I have the Series I. But from what I understand, it can be done without removing the mount. I might be mistaken

i had to on my series 1 also

Me too.

Iknow on either the L36 or Series II L67 you don't have to pull the mount. I just don't remember which.

The Regal has the Series II 3800 SC. Big motor in a medium sized car. Mmmmmmm....good. Since the most recent Regal bodystyle came about, they no longer use the 3100 in any Regals. The Century still has it though.

Thanks for that information. So it doesn't sound like this mount has to come off to do this then. That will make it a lot easier. Is it easiest to come at this thing through the wheel well?

I found a Schuck'* (Checker'*, Kragen'*) here that is offering new ones for about $40 so I think I will go with them. This car has about 160k miles on it so this should work just fine.

Thanks for all the help!

I just replaced the WP on my 92 Bonneville non-SC (3800 Series I). There are two potential issues with the front motor mount (at least on this configuration).

First, two of the WP bolts are located through access holes on the motor mount plate. If the access holes are perfectly aligned with the bolt head, then they shouldn't be difficult to access with a socket. Mine were slightly misaligned and no socket would fit. Motor mount had to come off to get them. Besides that, there isn't much room to back those bolts all the way out with the motor mount in place.

Second, the WP pulley is re-used on the new WP shaft. I had the four pulley bolts removed, but couldn't get the pulley free from around the shaft due to the edge of the motor mount being in the way. This might not have been a problem had I been able to get at those two WP bolts, separate the WP from the block and slide it back a centimeter or two away from the motor mount. I'm not sure, because I couldn't get all the WP bolts off without removing the motor mount, anyway.

When I say 'removing' the motor mount, what I really mean is removing the four bolts on the frame side, the two bolts and one stud on the engine side, then jiggling the entire mount out of the way with the engine supported via a jack on the oil pan (with a board between the oil pan and jack to protect the pan). I couldn't actually get the motor mount out of the engine bay because those damned rigid A/C hoses were in the way. At the factory, the engine goes in, then the AC hoses are installed directly over the frame-side mount. Enough room to wiggle the mount over to one side or another but not much else without disconnecting the A/C hoses.

I purchased a new WP at Kragen Auto for $36.99 (plus tax), made in Japan by GMB. Also installed a 180' stat and replaced the cooling hoses.

The bypass hose fitting that screws into the manifold was of a carbon/plastic fiber type material and blew apart while I was driving, which is what prompted all of this. The fitting blew in half at the manifold edge, leaving the threaded half inside and removed with an EZ OUT thingy. A replacement fitting was $17 from the dealer, of SOLID METAL construction this time. The dealer reported they were selling 20 of those fittings every month for a while, but demand had slowed. Apparently, I wasn't the only one with that problem.

Forget about finding the coolant drain plug for the engine block on the rear side of the vehicle. I couldn't find it because it was totally obstructed. The front drain plug can be found a few inches from the starter by crawling under the front of the car and is fairly accessible.

I've done a few water pumps before, but every different vehicle is a new adventure.

Good luck!