Installing new water pump

[Bob Pickell]

I just wanted to ask if anybody had to install a new water pump in their Spider - and if they had it done at a garage - what did it cost you?

Thanks.

[dghii]

Did mine at the house. I'd figure a garage might charge 2 to 3 hours labor.

[wkennedy]

I have a 1988 Quadrifoglio Spider also and I did it myself. There is a trick to it.

If I remeber correctly two of the threaded studs at the bottom interfere with getting the thing on. I called Stevens down in Florida who had done work for me on the thing before I moved it up to Virginia and asked him how to get around this problem. He said remove the threded studs in the two locations that interfere and replace them with bolts.

I also came across this (below) before I did the work--forget the source.

Water pump replacement ’91 Alfa Spider Veloce

The manual states the obvious, e.g., remove the belts, get the power steering pump out of the way, remove the 9 nuts and 3 hoses, and remove old pump. The manual does not mention 2 key problems, however.
1. The Timing Indicator Pin is behind the Motronic crankshaft sensing gear fixed to the damper.
2. The serpentine belt idler pulley bracket surrounds the inlet to the water pump so you must now remove the damper (which involves removing the radiator) and the idler bracket (which involves removing the air conditioning pump).

OR-----------------------------

A special tool that will greatly help with problem “1” is a 2 1/2 inch diameter cut-off wheel and mandrel fitted to a drill motor. Use this tool to remove (cut) the timing reference pin from the water pump. This tool will also be used to refit the new pump with an offset reference pin.

With the reference pin out of the way you now discover that the pump cannot be removed because the stud (at 7 o’clock) prevents the pump removal. Remove this stud with double nuts, or vise grips or whatever method you prefer. Don’t worry about saving the stud. Replace the stud with a 6 x 25 mm hex bolt with two washers and threads coated in non-hardening gasket cement. (Before installing new pump, run new bolt into hole to clean the threads in the block.)

To build an offset ( Z shaped ) timing pin, use 1/8-5/32 inch brass rod. Sand a point on one end, bend 90 degrees at 1 inch and again in 3/8 inch. Cut 3/8 inch after last bend. To install in the new pump;
Note: You might want to practice on the old pump.
1. Drive existing pin from housing using drift pin, careful to support pump casting. Drive pin into gap between vise jaws or between suitable blocks.
2. Draw a reference line from the center of the crankshaft past the reference pin hole to the edge of the pin boss. (Or from the pin hole to the right of the stud used for alternator bracket mounting, which is very close to the same line)
3. Using the cut off wheel, carefully cut a slot that extends from the pin hole to the upper edge of the pin boss along the reference line drawn in step 2. This slot should be just deep and wide enough to allow the offset pin to be installed into the boss flush with the surface.
4. A sharp center punch can be used to stake the offset pin in place. High temp glue will enhance the pin’s retention.

Install the pump (connection of the radiator hose before bolting the pump to the engine will save some grief later).

There is more top this but I cannot seem to get the drawing pasted in--send me a PM with your e-mail address and I'll send you the whole file.

[dwc]

Have a look at this:

http://www.geocities.com/motorcity/d...7/h2opump.html

[Bob Pickell]

Thanks all - I wasn't going to do it myself - but with all of this info - I might.

[dghii]

Not a horrible job, nor will you need any special tools. My worst item is that I put my fan on without the metal spacer (you'll see). I started the car and shred a couple of fan blades. Not an expensive mistake but you have to remove the radiator, and drain the coolant, to get replace the fan.

Get new hoses, belts and maybe even a thermostat and your cooling system will love you long time.

[Tifosi]

Actually, if you don't mind a couple skinned knuckles and have a bit of patience in a can (beer) you can replace the fan without removing the radiator.

Undo the shroud and hang it over the pump pulley, then break the bolts loose with a 10mm socket on a 1/4" drive ratchet, afterwhich you can work at it with an open end 10mm wrench.

Might take 1/2 hour or so, but it's cheaper and easier than the radiator drain and pull. (of course as the water pump is the object in question, things wull be drained anyway, so removing the radiator is user optioned)

[Joe Papa Sr]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Tifosi Actually, if you don't mind a couple skinned knuckles and have a bit of patience in a can (beer) you can replace the fan without removing the radiator. Undo the shroud and hang it over the pump pulley, then break the bolts loose with a 10mm socket on a 1/4" drive ratchet, afterwhich you can work at it with an open end 10mm wrench. Might take 1/2 hour or so, but it's cheaper and easier than the radiator drain and pull. (of course as the water pump is the object in question, things wull be drained anyway, so removing the radiator is user optioned)

[Tifosi]

I was referring to a fan or shroud swap, not the pump.

But yeah, gotta double nut the studs for the pump or it'll just sit there hung up mocking you.

[Joe Papa Sr]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Tifosi I was referring to a fan or shroud swap, not the pump. But yeah, gotta double nut the studs for the pump or it'll just sit there hung up mocking you.

[mikerwilson]

I just did a waterpump on my 82' spider (bosch). I'm doing a head swap, so I had the hood off, radiator out, and most everything else out of the way. I know this is an ideal situation, but I fully expect this to work with the hood on, but radiator out...

I removed the crank pulley. I just used my torque wrench as a breaker bar, put the car in 5th, and put wheel chocks on either side of one of the back wheels, a pile of rags down on top of the coil (to protect my hands in case this thing broke loose), and it came loose fairly easily. I had to ratchet my wrench a few times to get enough "throw" on it. The driveline probably took up about a quarter turn's worth of the wrench's throw, but it came loose very nicely. MUCH easier than it would have been to thread the studs off.

BTW, I know there's been some debate about the size of the nut on the crank pulley... on my 82, it was a 36mm...

[ghnl]

Quote:

Originally Posted by mikerwilson I just used my torque wrench as a breaker bar...

[mikerwilson]

Quote:

Originally Posted by ghnl Ouch. I'd suggest getting a proper breaker bar and not abusing your torque wrench like that.

[ghnl]

Quote:

Originally Posted by mikerwilson At least I used my old $35 POS one, and not my nice new Craftsman one... is that better?

[Daves 90 Spyder]

I did the pump on my 90 Graduate. It wasn't easy, but I listened to the experts here and got it done. I tried to double nut the studs, but ended up pulling the crank. Once I broke the crank nut loose, the whole job was gravy.

Good luck.

D.