[bennor]

Since there doesn't appear to be a DIY on replacing the water pump on a 9th Gen Corolla. I was wondering if anyone has replaced their water pump themselves, how difficult it was, and where they purchased the pump and fluid?

Have a 2005 Corolla LE with only 63,000 miles on it that both the Toyota Dealership and a local brake/muffler shop have indicated the water pump is leaking (possibly from the water pump weep hole). Toyota Dealership wants $580 to replace the water pump and coolant (no flush, just drain). Local brake/muffler shop wants approx. $300 to replace pump and fluids (again no flush, just drain). Local Toyota Dealership parts department sells the water pump for $121.50 and a gallon of fluid for $23.99.

I've been looking through old posts including this one and this one and a few others on this site. And this DIY posted on some guy's website. And reviewing the following two Youtube video's trying to determine if it makes sense for me to replace a possibly leaking water pump or paying $300 or more for a local shop to replace the pump.

Some questions I'm trying to get answers too before deciding on doing it myself:

• What water pump brand are people using, where was it purchased from, and for how much?
• Did you do a coolant drain then flush, or just a coolant drain?
• Did you use the radiator petcock to drain the radiator or pull a radiator hose to drain?
• What coolant fluid and which type did you use? Toyota SLLC type, Zerex Asian, or other?
• How much coolant is needed? More than 1 gallon?
• What procedure did you use? Slip off serpentine belt from alternator/water pump, drain coolant, pull alternator, pull pump and reverse the process?
• Is a torque wrench needed? If so; where is a good place to buy an inexpensive torque wrench, and to what torque should the bolts be set to?
• What other tools or products would be needed to replace water pump?
• Anything to look out for, recommendations, tricks or techniques to make doing it yourself easier?

 

[bennor]

That sucks. This is definitely not common. Can you take a picture of the area?

Not sure this picture will help, its about all that can be seen.

3. Generally I drain the radiator petcock. If you live up north or in an area with heavy corossion, I would look at removing the lower radiator hose.
...
6. That is absolutely correct. Technically you don't have to remove the alternator IIRC, but it makes it a million times easier. Don't forget you have to bleed the system afterwards. I would recommend a Lisle Spill Free funnel from Amazon and that you run the car with heater on full blast and the front end jacked up, to bleed effectively.

It appears some do the petcock and some do the lower radiator hose. Just concerned about leaks aftwards which some say happens with the petcock seeing as I'm from the North East US. Downside with radiator hose is it appears the plastic shield has to be removed to get at it.

My problem is other than the scissor jack in the car's trunk for changing the tire I don't have another jack (or even jack stands). If I need to buy a jack, funnel ($28 at Amazon), drain pan, and other tools the price gets to a point where its almost the same cost to let the pro's do it.

Can the fluid be poured into the radiator without the use of the Listle type funnel and can the system be bleaded without jacking up the car?

Edit to add: Can fluid like Zerex Asian be mixed with what little Toyota SLLC fluid that doesn't drain from the engine/radiator without causing any cooling issues? I assume it can but figure I'd better ask the question just in case.

 

[bennor]

If this would be better served as a separate official DIY thread let me know and I'll start a new thread with just this information.

Note: I performed this water pump replacement on a 2005 Corolla LE. I had trouble removing the alternator so I ended up replacing the water pump without removing the alternator.

DIY: 2003-2008 Corolla Water Pump Replacement

Disclaimer:
Use this DIY guide at your own risk! I assume no responsibility for any damage to your vehicle or personal injury as a result of following this guide. If you have tips, corrections, or suggestions please feel free to add them.

Time: 30 minutes to several hours.

Total Cost: Approximately $90 USD (includes water pump, cooling fluid, torque wrench, drive extension) Note: Cost will vary due to where pump, fluids and tools (if needed) are purchased.

Tools:
1/4 inch Torque wrench (in. lbs.)
Socket/ratchet wrench (1/4 inch works best for water pump bolts)
1/4 Drive Extension 2 inch
Pliers
10mm socket (water pump bolts - top engine cover)
12mm socket (alternator bolt - upper)
14mm socket (alternator bolt - lower)
19mm socket (serpentine belt)
Drain pan – approx. 2 gallon
Funnel
Knife (optional – to scrape out O-ring area on engine block)
Breaker bar (for serpentine belt removal)

Parts:
Zerex Asian Fluid (2 gallons)
Aisin WPT-106 Water Pump

Optional/Extras (not required but may be useful):
Mechanic gloves (or similar) to protect hands from cuts/grime/fluids
RTV sealant (black) or dielectric grease) or Vaseline
Anti-seize lubricant

Specific brand used:
1/4 in. Drive Click Type Torque Wrench from Harbor Freight
1/4 Drive Extension 2 inch from Advanced Auto Parts
Zerex Asian Fluid (From NAPA)
Aisin WPT-106 Water Pump (from RockAuto)
Generic Vaseline
Permatex Anti-Seize Compound & Lubricant Item #765-1674 (from NAPA)

Note: If using a torque wrench make sure its a "in. lbs." torque wrench and not a "ft. lbs." torque wrench. Using the wrong torque wrench can result in over tightening of the water pump bolts or even strip/break them.

Note: I used just under one gallon of fluid when refilling the radiator. But you may end up using more or less. The cooling system holds a total of approximately 6.9 quarts of fluid.

Steps:

1. Disconnect the negative cable on the car battery before you begin.

2. Place a drain pan underneath the radiator. When the engine is cool, drain the cooling system from the radiator into drain pan. See: DIY: 2003-2008 Corolla, Matrix, Pontiac Vibe Coolant Flush w/Pics for more information on how to drain the cooling system.

3. Remove the top engine cover. (10mm socket)

4. Slip serpentine belt (drive belt) off the alternator and water pump pulleys. Refer to figure 1 for belt routing and pulley locations. (19mm socket – breaker bar)

Figure 1​

Note: It may be easier to remove the belt altogether.

5. Optional: Disconnect alternator cables and remove alternator. Note: Water pump can be removed without removing the alternator but it is much easier to access the water pump with the alternator out of the way. (12mm socket – lower bolt & 14mm socket – upper bolt)

6. Loosen and remove the six bolts (10mm socket) to the water pump and take the water pump out of the engine. Make note of where each bolt comes from as two of the bolts may be shorter than the rest. See figure 2 for bolt locations.

Figure 2​

Note: (A) in figure 2 are shorter bolts than (B) in figure 2.

7. Clean gasket area on engine block. Optional: Put two small dabs of; RTV sealant, or dielectric grease, or Vaseline into gasket area on engine block to hold gasket in place while mounting the water pump to engine block.

8. Install water pump gasket into gasket channel.

9. Install the new water pump making note of the bolt locations. Optional: Put small amount of anti-seize lubricant on threads of each of the six bolts. Install bolts in cross hatch pattern. (10mm socket)

10. Tighten the short bolts to 80-inch lbs. (9 Nm) and tighten the long bolts to (8 ft. lbs.) 96 inch pounds (11 Nm). (10mm socket – torque wrench)

11. Optional: Reinstall alternator and reconnect alternator cables. (12mm socket – lower bolt & 14mm socket – upper bolt)

12. Slip serpentine belt back onto the water pump and alternator pulleys. See figure 1 or figure 3 for belt routing. (19mm socket – breaker bar)

Figure 3​

13. Reinstall top engine cover. (10mm socket)

14. Reconnect the negative battery cable. Note: Engine may run rough for a short while as the ECU relearns.

15. Refill the cooling system with coolant to the proper levels. See: DIY: 2003-2008 Corolla, Matrix, Pontiac Vibe Coolant Flush w/Pics for more information on how to refill the cooling system.

16. Start the engine and check for leaks when the engine reaches normal operating temperatures. Typically temperature gauge indicator is midway between hot and cold on 9th Generation Corollas.

17. Over the next few days keep an eye on the temperature gauge. Check for leaks and or add more coolant fluid if temperature remains above normal.

Note: I was able to finger tighten the water pump bolts by hand using the 1/4 inch drive 2 inch extension with a 10mm shallow depth socket attached, then torque to proper specifications. A thumb wheel ratchet like those sold by Harbor Freight may be useful to hand tighten.

Video's others have done:

 

[bennor]

Suggestion: Might as well replace the S/Belt if not yet replaced yet.

Did my serpentine belt previously (back in 09) as evidenced by my thread I started that ended up being the DIY thread for the belt replacement in the Official 9th Gen Corolla/ 1st Gen Matrix DIY and Forum Info Sticky!. The belt (a Gatorback) looked fine when I inspected it while doing the water pump replacement.

Edit to add: Apparently the Aisin WPT-106 pump is the OEM pump used on the Corolla. The pump was $ 40.99 USD from Rockauto.

 

[bennor]

During reinstallation of the water pump one of the bolts broke off.
Does any one know the part number for the bolt?
It is one of the smaller bolts (A in the picture above).
And is it typical for the smaller bolts to be hard to screw back in?[/quote]
Don't know a part number for the bolt but I assume your local Toyota dealer would have one, can order one, or can tell you the part number.

But I do have to ask, how did you break the bolt in the first place? The smaller bolts, at least when I put my pump in, went in very easy and were tightened to just past hand tight using a inch/lbs torque wrench. The large bolts use a [U]different[/U] torque setting, the torque info for both bolts are in a prior post of mine. I was able to hand tighten both sets of bolts without issue. I wonder if either you had the bolt placement pattern wrong or cross threaded the bolt.

If I remember right the water pump kit I used came with bolts.

 

[bennor]

They were hard to tighten. I was tightening them by hand, but it was difficult to go further with about 1/4 inch of the bolt still sticking out. When I went to tighten it with the wrench one of the bolts broke off.
There longer bolts were not a problem only the smaller ones.
I will go to the dealer today and get all new bolts.

I did manage to find the AisinWPT-106 Technical Bulletin that came with the water pump I used on an 05 Corolla LE, and it indicates the following (which may not apply to your vehicle/pump) for the two shorter bolts on the diagram above:

A running change was made to the AISIN WPT-106 water pump. The water pump has been upgraded to include a drain pocket. As a result of the design modification, the thickness of the material has now changed at two bolt mount locations [location A in the above diagram]. The material at the two bolt holes are approximately 7.5mm thicker than that of the original design. Because of the difference in thickness, Longer bolts must be installed. The bolt specifications are: metric class 10.9 or better, flanged M6, pitch of 1.0, with a thread length of 30mm.

The applications directly affected are Toyota Vehicles quipped with the 4-cylinder 1.8 liter 1ZZ-FE engine in the earlier production models of the Celica, Corolla and the MR2 Spyder. The later production vehicles already incorporate the newer water pump design which has these longer bolts.

Original Bolt
Specifications:
Metric class 10.9 or better flanged M6 pitch of 1.0, with a thread length of 20mm.

Replacement Bolt
Specifications:
Metric class 10.9 or better flanged M6, pitch of 1.0, with a thread length of 30mm.

That bulletin also lists the following vehicle/years as; "Require Shorter Bolts":
Toyota Celica GT 1999-6/2001 L4 Cyl 1.8 Liter 1ZZFE Engine 16100-29175 OEM
Toyota Corolla 1997-1/2002 L4 Cyl 1.0 Liter 1ZZFE Engine 16100-29415 OEM
Toyota MR2 Spyder 1999-7/2001 L4 Cyl 1.8 Liter 1ZZFE Engine 16100-29175 OEM