Water Pump Questions

I think I've narrowed the squeal coming from my engine area down to the WP(Water Pump) Pulley. I wasn't able to find a WP Pulley on Rockauto, haven't checked anywhere else yet but how hard is it to change out the entire water pump?


Reason I ask about changing the entire pump is because the area on the block under the water pump is noticeably darker, like it's been getting wet so is that a sign that my water pump is about to fail? That's part of the reason I'm asking how hard it is to change out since I am sure this is the original WaterPump which is probably about to fail. The squeal has gotten noticeably worse after installing a brand new belt tensioner. And today after removing the belt and spinning every pulley the water pump pulley is the only one with a weird "Whirring" noise when I spin it by hand in either direction.

Sorry if it's a little lengthy.

Super easy. The hardest part is breaking the pulley bolts loose on the pump. There's an o ring seal so there isn't any gasket to clean up, and you shouldn't have to remove anything else other than the pump itself.

That a relief. After I made this thread I realized that it should be pretty straight-forward I just wasn't sure.

I messed around with the pulley bolts a little today and you're right that does seem like the hardest part lol.
Any tricks to get em loosened easily? I saw one video for a 96 GT where he recommended pulling the belt towards you while you wrench on the bolts. I tried that and wasn't successful ha.

I used a screwdriver and bridged the gap between two of the bolt heads. That allowed me to get some leverage on the pulley and crack the bolts loose one at a time. Impacts are really the way to go. If you are so inclined, you can buy a manual impact driver for pretty cheap from any hardware store. Just put your socket on it and make sure it's on reverse, and whack it with a hammer.

Got it, those pulley bolts came out without too much trouble. Now the old water pump isn't budging, It's stuck in there pretty good lol. Gonna keep hammering on it some at different angles. Thanks for the help again!

Edit: Less than 5 mins after I posted this it came free. Thank god! lol. Should be done in time to ride a little today!

Awesome, just remember these cars are particular about filling the cooling system. There's a million guides on how to do it out there, just make sure you fill from the coolant crossover to avoid air locking the system.

10-4 on the cooling system.
The water pump solved the squeal for about a day, now the damn thing is squealing worse than before ha. Squeals whenever I get on the gas. Me and my uncle think it's coming from the A/c compressor now, crazy.

A/c works fine so I am thinking I will just try to replace the pulley or bearing. I do not want to deal with changing out a entire compressor just yet lol.

Edit: After doing a little more research, I'm going to take off and inspect the a/c clutch next. Doesn't seem too hard at all.

Check the tensioner pulley as well. That's what solved my chronic belt squeal. The pulley can be bought separately from the whole tensioner assembly. While the belt is off, spin the idler pulley as well. If it sounds like a roller skate wheel, go ahead and replace it.

If the squealing stops when the A/C clutch is engaged it's not the clutch bearing.

I actually just replaced the belt tensioner about a week ago and that stopped the squeal for my morning drive to work. Prior to that I had replaced just the pulley on the tensioner thinking it was just the pulley. The tensioner and idler pulley have all been replaced so far lol.

SNAKEYE said:

If the squealing stops when the A/C clutch is engaged it's not the clutch bearing.

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This is good to know, at this point the squealing doesn't stop when I turn on the a/c. It squeals under no load after a cold startup. Once the engine warms up the squeal stops while idling and starts squealing once I get on the gas.

have you changed the belt? sounds like it is contaminated. if any oils or coolant gets on the belt, it can ruin it. requires replacement.

bryantaylor said:

have you changed the belt? sounds like it is contaminated. if any oils or coolant gets on the belt, it can ruin it. requires replacement.

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Yep, got a new belt couple months ago because the old one was cracking, also replaced alternator at that time so alternator and belt are less than a year old. I can't for the life of me remember what belt I got, I know some were having trouble with Dayco's I think?
Anyhow, didn't get any squeals for awhile after that, until the rad fan starting going, that one was squealing loud as heck! replaced that then no squeals for a few more months lol and now this is where I stand.

I was actually thinking about trying a gatorback belt but idk, I was going to try that bar soap trick with my current belt to see what happens, just haven't gotten to try it yet.

ViciousBlack97 said:

Super easy. The hardest part is breaking the pulley bolts loose on the pump. There's an o ring seal so there isn't any gasket to clean up, and you shouldn't have to remove anything else other than the pump itself.

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Question: do you recommend using a little gasket maker WITH the o ring? Im about to do the wp and t stat and always wodered if it's needed to go that extra step with o ring set ups.... Sorry OP for thread jacking

No gasket maker is necessary on the o-ring. A bit of silicon spray lube will ease getting it in there.

jimbobjohnbrown said:

Question: do you recommend using a little gasket maker WITH the o ring? Im about to do the wp and t stat and always wodered if it's needed to go that extra step with o ring set ups.... Sorry OP for thread jacking

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No Worries brother. I didn't use any gasket maker when I did my water pump. As for the t stat not sure as I haven't done mine in the cobra yet. My impala on the other hand didn't require any. Good Luck.

SNAKEYE said:

No gasket maker is necessary on the o-ring. A bit of silicon spray lube will ease getting it in there.

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Thanks! I will work some 3m silicon paste onto the o ring.

jimbobjohnbrown said:

Question: do you recommend using a little gasket maker WITH the o ring? Im about to do the wp and t stat and always wodered if it's needed to go that extra step with o ring set ups.... Sorry OP for thread jacking

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Yeah, no gasket maker is needed. That's the great thing about o-ring seals, as long as they're not torn on installation, you're good. Do be careful with torque specs though, it's easy to crush an oring if you go too hard on it.

850SNCobra said:

No Worries brother. I didn't use any gasket maker when I did my water pump. As for the t stat not sure as I haven't done mine in the cobra yet. My impala on the other hand didn't require any. Good Luck.

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Thanks! Yeah, first time Cobra owner, didn't realize how hot these run, makes me uncomfortable with an aluminum block. Doing wp, t stat (180°) and a 3 row rad.

jimbobjohnbrown said:

Thanks! Yeah, first time Cobra owner, didn't realize how hot these run, makes me uncomfortable with an aluminum block. Doing wp, t stat (180°) and a 3 row rad.

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You're not alone in being a first time Cobra Owner, me too!
First time I got on the highway and hit 5th gear I noticed how warm mine got I was freaking out lol. Came here and found it's pretty typical for the needle to sit on or near the "A" in Normal on the temp gauge.

Love the cobra though, it definitely sparks conversations in almost any parking lot Lol.

You guys that think you are running hot, putting in a 160-degree t-stat and lowering your fan-on temperature will cool things down