How easy is a water pump change

[robkelley]

I think my water pump has givin up as I got home last night to steam and water dripping out directly below the cam belt housing.
I am fairly good with a spanner but like to know what I am getting into before I start a job. Is it pretty straight forward or do the does the cam belt have to come off (and leading to re-timing it)?

It is a '93 G Limited 2 ltr

Thanks
Rob

[OEMonkey]

Yes, you'll need to remove the timing belt when replacing the water pump.

[heritage36]

Yeah, this is probably one of the more involved jobs that you can do on a car. There is a lot that has to come off to get to it, and timing obviously is something to be careful with. I can tell you that the job probably pays at least 5 hours of labor for a trained tech that has done similiar work. I have heard other techs tell me that it is actually a lot easier on these if you can drop the engine, but that takes an engine hoist or something along those lines. Basically, unless you are very skilled in these manners, I would say leave it to the experts, and you will probably want to have cam seals, accessory belts and other stuff that is easy to change while doing the water pump done when they do that. You are looking at a nice bill though, probably in the area of $400-plus, and that is a low rate. Depends where you take it too. Good luck man!

[rezzle]

Being that it is on the exterior it isn't 'that bad'. But is is a lot of work and will take time. Just make sure you obtain a replacement gasket kit, in advance, and I like to use silicone in lieu of gasket glue. just take your time and lay everything out in a line on the floor beside the car in order as you take off each piece.

You will absolutely need a good MR2 manual. In case you accidently turn the engine and need to re-align the timing marks and to bleed the coolant lines. Bleeding the air out of the coolant lines -properly- in an MR2 is vital, and time consuming.

Count on losing a whole weekend if you do this yourself and have never done it before.