Water Pump Replacement process

subject - 2007 SRT8 SuperBee,
Condition - problem - loss of coolant, smell of glycol while sitting / driving vehicle, fans active.
Diagnosis - Water pump leaking, front of engine block. oil pan soaked with glycol, Thermostat housing pressure leaks, overflow bottle outside coated with dried glycol back pressure leak.
Filled coolant system with D.I. water, run vehicle to observe leak condition, overheat @ 230 degree. fans constant.

Contacted dealer for pricing of pump replacement, flush and refill $ 687.00 plus tax.

Opted to do it myself, ordered parts through dealership, OEM.

Now keep in mind I went to the expense of replacing additional parts that were showing signs of wear and seals seeping.

Parts ordered - water pump comes with seal, thermostat old seal torn could cause sticking open closed,
Both left and right side coolant transfer tubes, 2x tube " O " rings, Intake gaskets to heads,
Intake manifold belly pan gasket, Sensor at rear of intake, 2 Gallons of Glycol, 4 Gallons of D.I. water, 1 pint of glycol flush solution, Upper and lower Rad Hoses, 4 new rad hose stainless clamps, Serpentine belt, it took 5 days to receive all parts from dealer total cost $ 523.00 all in.

top off glycol bottle with D.I. water and flush solution drive to dealer and back home

repair process - drove car onto ramps to remove engine belly pan, open rad drain pet cock, empty about 1-1/2 gallons from rad into pail. Back car off ramps, remove rad hoses from water pump both hoses were empty.
remove CAI and filter and shroud.
removed belt tensioner and idler pulley from pump.
disconnect and remove rad fan assy.
disconnect fuel rail at rear supply line. and disconnect injectors.
disconnect sensor and brake booster hose from rear of intake.
remove injectors and rails from intake ports and remove as assembly.
remove 10 intake bolts and remove intake manifold.
remove coolant transfer tube bolts from rear of heads, middle of engine lifter valley, and front timing cover and disconnect wire at sensor.
Gently pry up on transfer tubes to avoid breaking tube neck inside old pump. and timing cover.
remove thermostat housing and thermostat.
remove water pump.
remove lower rad hoses from Rad, - I could not get at the spring clamps with pliers because of location and lack of space, so I used Die Grinder to cut clamps in half and they fell off.
drained heater hoses and glycol bottle.

From here it is basically a reassembly of the parts in reverse order. total time about 6 hours.

I would like to share some interesting observations from this experience.

When I had it all back together I filled the system with straight D.I. water and ran vehicle to ensure no more leaks, I placed the car back on the ramps and drained Rad again to remove as much old Glycol and flush solution as possible and then topped off with pure Glycol took in almost 2 gallons, system holds 15.12 Liters

When I had the intake Manifold off I decided to remove the belly pan and was the reason for ordering a new gasket for it, to see how much oil was inside the intake and am very pleased to tell you all there was ( 0 ) ZERO oil deposits in the intake chambers, runners and ports

There was minor discolouration from heat absorption but no oil what so ever.

The PCV chamber had some dried carbon deposits but no oil and the deposits were actually rusty from condensation. Metal cast iron deposits from engine internals.

My car only has about 35,000 miles for a 2007 and I suspect the thermostat seals, intake to head seals, water pump seal all showed signs of leakage tears etc. More than likely because of lack of use or minor short road trips.

The intake valves in the heads were black because of fuel air combustion but also had no visible signs of carbon build up.

Overall I would says this was an easy undertaking however because of modern design and lack of space it is much bigger than a simple water pump change of the 70.s or 80;s ERA

However I feel the money I spent was better used the way I did it and enabled me to replace more parts for less money and I feel better for doing so.

 

My best guess would be from lack of use, I think because the car is seldom driven that the water pump seal ( rubber ) simply dried out. once I had it removed I checked the seal with a straight edge to see how much of the seal was sticking out above the seal surface on the pump and it had shrunk below the mating surface effectively allowing coolant to seep through. The pump is actually still in good condition, if I can just buy a new seal for it, I will have it milled and keep it for a back up. The other thing that struct me funny was the thermostat has 2 seals on it the inner seal closes the thermostat from allowing fluid to pass into Radiator, while the outer seal is to seal the housing from leaking. Well the inner seal ( rubber ) was torn which was causing the stat to continually leak glycol into upper rad or possibly prevent it from opening at all, besides being torn it was swelled oversize. causing overheat condition.

The 2 intake manifold seals are steel with rubber bonded material around intake runners, not reusable, and the intake belly pan is a steel bead crimp type also not reusable. The runners are a good 1/4 inch under size compared to head intake openings huge difference in size. potential for big increase in air volume intake.

I placed the fuel injectors and rails in a pan with fuel in it to keep them from drying out save me a few bucks.

I would suggest anyone planning to hold on to your vehicles that they change the coolant seals prior to maybe 10 years of age that would prevent unexpected surprises.

I should probably change the rocker cover and spark plug seals next since they are also rubber. although no visible leaks as yet.

Another bonus to performing this myself was that I was able to use anti seize compound on all the bolts prior to reinstall as well as dialectic grease on all electrical connections to prevent moisture from entering, rusting contacts and making disconnect easier.

 

I really don't consider it work, I enjoy working on cars. As a kid my father use to make us help him repair our bikes flat tires, broken spokes, etc, that then turned into us helping him repair his cars, He was a tool and die maker for Ford Motor company, so tearing things down and rebuilding them became second nature and a love for cars at a very young age.

I developed the attitude that if I could do it cheaper than a mechanic and save some money and know it is done correctly then I took on the challenge. There are of course some things that require major investment in equipment that prevent this such as alignments, tire changes etc. Although tire changers, wheel balances and even car lifts are coming down in price.

You learn a lot by doing things yourself, and reading a lot of books and articles and of course from making mistakes and having to redo things. lol