My son has an 89 Bonneville and needs a new water pump. The person who I was going to do the job said it would cost between $500.00 and $1000.00. He said he would have to drop the exhaust to do the job. does any of this sound correct. It seams high to me.

Thanks
Rich

Depends on how mechanically incline you are... if you want to tackle it.. I'm sure a few Gurus can help you out with finding a better price. I don't know if I would go with a rebuilt one from a junkyard... personal preference

I didn't play on doing the job myself. I just want to know if the price I was given was high or not.

Thanks
Rich

Best thing to do is this then...
1.) Phone around to various parts stores to get the price on the water pump.
2.) Phone various garages to get estimate for them to do it. REMEMBER to ask for their "Door Rate" too (That'* how much they charge an hour).
3.) Compare the above with your quote.
4.) Pick the best one that fits your budget.

I am assuming the costs your quoted were in USD and not Canadian dollars.


Umhhh i am going to have to call bullshit on this.

I have an 89 Bonneville LE.
Last summer I replaced the water pump, timing chain cover, timing chain, timing sprockets, serpintine belt, oil pump and every sensor on that side of the motor.


I did all of the work myself with the help of a friend and it cost me a little under 400 dollars including the 200 dollar aluminium timing chain cover.

Maybe if you were having all that work done I could see it costing 750 to a 1000 dollars but just the water pump is easy to do. The part is only 20-30 dollars and there is not very much in the way. You have to drain the radiator first and then remove the serpintine belt and lower radiator hose.

The pulley attached to the water pump has to be removed before some of the lower bolts that attach the water pump to the block/timing chain cover.

I would probably do it for 75-100 dollars not counting parts.

My gut feeling is way on the high end for this estimate. WAY. I haven't had one go out on a 3.8l, and this is my second of those, so I can't say for sure, but I think Azwed is right on the money, so to speak.

I would have to agree with Wilwren (Heaven forbid) & Azwed on this too!

Hey wiseass, you did the same thing I did. You waited for Azwed to go first, so if you were wrong, you could say he was wrong FIRST.

I see right through you, old fart.

Got a question--would it be possible to get to the pump from the passenger side wheelwell?ust a thought. :?:

No, the wheelwell is not high enough. With the wheel removed it might be easier to get to one or two bolts but that is not worth the trouble of pulling the weel and plastic guard off.