Hi, my names Dave and i recently purchased a 1990 Bonneville LE from a co worker of my mom'*. Well up until recently the car has been running smooth, it was until last night.

I was pinning up the headliner, ghetto i know but a cheap fix for a poor college student, and the engine was making some funny noises. Well i let it run until all the sudden i thought the car stalled but i got out and it was still running, so i looked at the gauges a few minutes later....less than 5 minutes....and i saw the car was fully over heated. At the 250 degree mark so i shut it off as quick as i could.

When i got out to look at the engine, the belt had been thrown off the pulleys so as i was putting it back on i noticed the water pump pulley was completely frozen with metal shards around it.

So i figured it was an easy fix, well i took the pulley off the water pump, then all the surrounding bolts...atleast all the ones i thought were involved with the water pump.

Now the problem is the water pump isnt wanting to come off, lol. How hard should it be to get the pump off, i was told that it should come right out once the bolts were out.

Also, do i need to take the flywheel off that was underneath the pulley?

Any help is appreciated, thanks!

Sometimes they're pretty sticky. You took all the 10 mm bolts out from above, one below (almost invisible), and 4 i believe 12-13 mm bolts from the edges? It you are sure you got them all (run your fingers all around the perimeter to check) then take a sharp screwdriver right at the edge of the w/p-block mating surface and give it a tap to wedge it in between the two, and use it to pry it off. After 12 years they tend to get licked on from pressure and corrosion.

You might need "The Persuader"



No, no....I'm only kidding. But make sure that you removed ALL the bolts before you try to "Tap" it off. :wink2:

And before you put the new gasket and wa-wa pump on, scrape off the remnants of the old gasket so you have a clean surface to work with.

Just a note - if you must wedge, inset between pump and gasket and not gasket and block.

I usually just wedge a screwdriver where the pump shaft comes out of the pump and tap there, puts torque on the pump and usually pops loose.

Water pumps on a 3800 should be considered periodic maintenance, goig to need about one water pump for every three alternators. What I am saying is that you will likely be doing it again so don't use Permatex of any flavor.

Personally am somewhat fanatical about getting the block clean of all gasket traces and then just lube the new gasket with white grease and install. If you do it right, it doesn't need any RTV or "red death".

Thanks for the help, i was able to get to the parts store to get a new water pump to look at and once i saw that i did actually get all the bolts, i was able to "persuade" it off of the block.

I did end up using the blue goo, RTV crap, because i wanted a good seal. But the only thing is that once i got the new pump on and bolted down, along with the pulley back on. I then put some 50/50 anti freeze in and it leaked...not gushed out but a small tiny drip.

Is this normal cause i know i didnt exactly give it 24 hours to cure, but i figured that was just for when you run the car. But as far as i know i did it right, just gotta get the belt on tomorrow after work and then i shall know.

Thanks for the pics and all the help guys, i appreciate it a lot!
-Dave

Please clarify one thing for me. Did this WP come with its own gasket or did you use the "blue goo RTV" as the gasket material in between the engine block and the Water Pump???

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OK, I see where they say you can use this stuff in place of a gasket. But I would only use this as a means of a last resort, meaning a gasket can't be found that will work. So, if it'* leaking around the WP, you might want to use the gasket that came with(or should have come with) this Water Pump.

oooooooooooooh no i see where you mis-read what i said...sorry bout that lol

But the water pump came with a gasket and i used blue goo for the sealant, but i went out and checked for leaks and its not leaking as of right now but i havent had time to put the belt back on, so ill see tomorrow.

Thanks for all the input
-Dave