Follow up on this post:
http://twinturbo.net/nissan/300zx/forums/general/view/2226595/How-much-can-I-expect-for-labor-on-a-water-pump-replacement.htmlMy insurance offers free towing to the closest dealer and my car was sitting on the side of the road, so I took them up on the tow. The dealer quoted me $1925 to fix the water pump and to replace my front tension rods because the rubber is cracked and leaking grease ($925 to do the water pump, $1k to do the tension rods). I told the service manager hell no, don't touch the car, I'll have it towed. Next morning he calls me and offers me a $200 discount just to do the water pump the work. I tell him no again. The guy has the balls to call me back an hour later and offer $300 off the work. Instead I ordered a new pump from Coz ($114 shipped w/ gasket) and spent $130 to have it towed halfway across the state the my parents house (I live in an apartment) so I could do the work myself. I quickly found out whey the belt had been thrown. The bearing on the water pump had failed and the shaft had a very large amount of side to side play as a result. I also found the cause. During my 120k the dealer used two Napa belts on the car, one for the power steering pump and another on the alternator and water pump. Both of the belts were too small and were putting high loads on the pulleys. With the power steering pump tensioner loosened all the way, the belt was still very tight. I had to remove the pulley to get the belt off. I had a suspicion the same thing caused the water pump bearing failure, so I tried to get the thrown belt back on and there was no chance in hell it would go back on. What's even more interesting is that the bolt which held the power steering pump in place had never been tightened down after the 120k, the lock washer wasn't event touching the body of steering pump. There was enough side load from the belt putting pressure on the bolt that it was held captive. I still have to order new belts, but I do have to say that replacing the water pump wasn't as hard as I expected. I followed the under drive pulley and 60/120k maintenance how to's and things went very smoothly. I did have to buy a higher reading torque wrench and gear/pulley puller. I also used this as an opportunity to upgrade my impact wrench. In case anyone is in the market, this impact wrench is absolutely amazing and only runs $200. All I can say about it is wow. Compare 625 ft-lbs in reverse to most impact wrenches 100 ft-lbs. And this thing flys at 10k rpm. http://www.irtools.com/IS/product.aspx-en-2858
John
EngineeringHobbyist.com
|
