The last time, we installed the front suspension. Once this was complete and tightened, it was time to get back to the original job - repairing the water pump.
As you may recall, I removed the old water pump (Which seemed to be leaking) back in December. To do this, I had to remove:
- the radiator
- the alternator
- the battery
- the crank pulley
- the accessory belt
- the coolant reservoir.
So, I had to re-install all these parts in addition to the water pump before I could restart the car.
So first, I worked on the water pump. First, one needs to remove the tachometer drive from the old water pump onto the new water pump. This must be done carefully, as the water pump housing is made of very soft cast aluminum. Any threads on the housing are easily stripped. How do I know? Well, I ended up stripping one of the threaded holes used to attach the tach gears. Very annoying!!Fortunately, the threaded hole is fairly long, and I only stripped the top part of the threads. Sourcing longer bolts from the hardware store solved the problem. That, and very careful application of torque...
Next up, the pump is moved into place, and tightened with nine studs/nuts. Most of these were fairly straightforward, but a few of the nuts hide behind the water pump pulley, making things a bit annyoing. Again, one must torque carefully in order to prevent anything from breaking.
Once this was done, it was time to install the crank pulley. This required 150lb-ft of torque, which can be tricky. One must lock the engine crank somehow, which I was not able to do. So, I used my other good friend, the impact wrench, which coinidentally, is rated for 150 lb-ft of torque. A few seconds worth of torqueing (and a few drops of high-temp thread locking glue) took care of that.
Next up was the alternator. Of the three things so far, this was the simplest. I also installed the accessory belt simultaneously. Getting both the alternator and the belt instaled together simplifies things a bit.Next up, I installed the engine fan. Even simpler than the alternator.
Then it was the fan shroud. I had just bought this recently, as the car did not have one installed when I bought it. It attaches to the radiator. However, there is not enough clearance to lower into place the radiator and shroud assembled together. So the trick is to place the shrowd around the fan, then slide the radiator into place.
Before installing the radiator, I took the time to clean up the radiator core and cooling fins. I figured I'd never have a chance to do this as thoroughly. After cleanup, I slid the radiator into place, attached the various hoses required, and attached the fan shroud in place. Things looked good.
Next up was the battery. I decided to replace the old, leaky unit with a smaller, gel-pack battery from Baker Precision batteries. These things are small, lighter, and supposedly can handle deep discharge cycles. Plus, it opens up the engine bay a bit.
After filling up the engine with fresh coolant (50/50 mix of ethylene glycol and water), I connected the battery terminals, cranked the engine, and crossed my fingers. Guess what - the car started right up! Go figure.
Next up was flushing any air trapped within the cooling system of the engine, then on to a test drive. Things were looking good so far...
Next: How to fill up your GTV with coolant; First test drives, minor disasters.
