Changing Water Pump, Need Help!!!
 

Car died Sunday night and found out its the water pump.Followed the online instructions but while backing pump out the holes where the screws were both broke off. Kept everything out of the engine but now there' s no way to get the pump out. Any suggestion??

what do you mean the screws broke? The M8 bolts you were using to jack the pump out, those broke? I guess I don't quite follow. Just did my pump this past weekend and had no problems at all .... other than a tensioner breaking on me.

MORE INFO !!!!! Pix would help too, if you can.

From what I understand...the backing screws broke off?? Man.....that does not sound good. The only way you gonna be able to get those broken bolts off will be to pull the engine or take it to a mechanic?? Anyone else have any ideas?

The water pump is a big *** pain in the ***...even for seasoned mechanics...I suggest taking it in and giving up about $650....I attempted it and after an entire 4 days of work I was so frustrated that i took it in and got it done and even the mechanic said this was the most difficult water pump he had to change...and he's a porsche/jaguar/audi mechanic...good luck to you but its worth the pain and money to get it done professionally. Just my two cents...

PICS?? Depending on room there are options. depending on where the bolt broke there are options. Much better discription or pictures would get you the answer you are looking for.

Easyouts
Weld a bolt or nut on to the broken bolt
Vice grip <---And I mean VICE GRIP not cheap knock offs.

I have broken my share of bolts as I used to run cars 200k Plus often. Show us what you are working with and I am sure someone will have a good idea for you.

the bolts didn't break. The holes that you screw the bolts into on the water pump broke before the pump was fully backed out. Now it seems like the chain has tightened and its getting harder to get the pump out. I can wiggle it but thats about it.

gotta take the chain off LOL

You've got to be very careful the teeth aren't engaging the chain when you use the jack bolts. Otherwise the chain will stop the pump and the bolts will break. You need to slack the chain more and fully disengage it from the sprocket. Then you can use whatever is handy to pry the pump out.

Dave

i just did my water pump a few weeks ago and it was a pain in the *** for me too. all i can recommend is that you take EVERYTHING thats in the way out, and i mean your belt tensioner, motor mount, thermostat, man you wanna have as much space as you can to get that thing out, and if it helps, once you unbolted the motor mount tilt the engine with a spare jack to give yourself more space!!! space is key my friend!!! and make sure that timing chain has slack, the instructions on the forum and in the manuals say to turn it about 20 degrees, man i had to turn mine like 90 degrees after i took the tensioner out to get enough slack! make it easy on yourself and then im sure you can pry it out with something. good luck bro :)

Got the pump out and replaced everything. The pump looked fine. Haven't sealed everything up yet. Saw a lot of grease all over everything under my car and it looks like a piece of wire shredded my rack and pinion boot. It was still wrapped around the pinion. Going out to get a new one and some grease. Also changing the oil, AC belt and was about to do the tensioner too but it's only a year old. Hopefully after all that is done the car will work!

Thanks for the help!

Wow, have not changed the water pump on my maxima yet...is it really that much harder than on any other car? What specifically makes it so time consuming, location?

Location, Location, Location!!!!!! You have to go about two inches inside the engine and not really have a good idea of what you're doing because you can't see. I relied on my sense of touch to put in and remove the bolts because you can't see and place them at the same time. My left hand has about 4 cuts on it and my right hand has 7. You will barely have enough space to move your hands. I also dealt with the mind-numbing pressure of realizing that if I dropped the tensioner in the motor I would have killed my car. I was also pressed for time but wanted to be very careful. Between school and work it took me 4 days to get it done right.

ahhh my water pump was hell to change...my stupid friend was helping me and he wasnt paying attention and dropped the spring and piston inside the block..so i had to go fishing with a magnet to get them out..took about two hours to get both of them out..was one of the hardest things i have changed on my maxima so far

I am new to this board and cannot post a new thread but my question all started with this water pump replacement of a 95 Max . . . so here goes.

I got the pump replaced only after removing the timing cover, which is a major pain but makes the water pump job much easier. I also replaced the tensioner and guide and in the process got the timing totally out of synch. I have directions on how to place the chain on the sprockets and this is not a problem. The problem is my crankshaft will only turn about 180 degrees regardless of how the camshafts are arranged. I have turned them every which way but loose. I do not belive it is a valve / piston matter. I can turn the cams in such a way that the valves do restrcit the turn, but I can not get the crankshaft to turn past the 180 degree (roughly) radius. I have been dealing with this for several weeks now - - downloaded the factory manual and everything. Could the oil pump somehow be restricting the turn? Starter gear dropped down somehow (I have not been to the flywheel side of the engine)? I did turn the crankshaft counterclockwise some while getting the crankshaft bolt off.

I have not taken the cam sprockets off or any of that. I did ignorantly turn them though after I took the timing chain off

I can get TDC with no problem. It is within the turning radius I have.

All this started with replacing the water pump and wanting to challenge myself a bit.

By the way. I had already put the entire timing cover back on and all the peripherals before I discovered this problem. I have taken it all back apart.

I give up. No more challenge for me. I am shipping a fifth of RC to whoever can tell me the fix here.

Makes the $580 I paid a dealer for this 5 years ago seem like a bargain!