Water Pump. Anyone replace their own?

Originally Posted by bigjae1976

Well, may the force be with me this weekend...

haha. it's not that bad really. just take your time.
also plug on the engine block is a b1tch to find/reach. as I said take your time, have a beer and it'll be all good.

Originally Posted by mcabr

I searched on this topic and it seems reasonably easy so I was wondering if anyone else had done this and how hard it is. I am able to do most installs but playing with the engine seems kind of ify to me. However, when looking into the engine bay the waterpump is pretty much just right there once I take the fan off and radiator or whatever. Any opinions on this?

It was really straightforward on my 2002 325im. I also replaced the thermostat. The hardest part was to remove the coolant hoses from the thermostat.

Where is the drain on the block? I found one on the bottom of the expansion tank and radiator. I have drained about 1 gallon of coolant so far.

Originally Posted by bigjae1976

Where is the drain on the block? I found one on the bottom of the expansion tank and radiator. I have drained about 1 gallon of coolant so far.

Did you find it yet? 2nd picture is what you see when you look up from left side of the engine, not front!

Yeah, found it. Thanks.

Guys... I have a horrible problem.

Tried to change my water pump today. I unscrewed the 4 bolts, got the 2 M6 screws in and started tightening them. The water pump was so stuck in there that part of the border/rim (i don't know what to call it) of the WP broke. I'm talking about the part with the holes for the 4 screws. Nothing "internal" broke. I managed to put everything back together and started the car. WP seems to work properly. Temp is regular. Anyway there is nothing else sealing the WP but the O-ring around it which didn;t move si there is really no reason for it to not work.

My question is: how the hell do I get the pump out anyway?

some slip right out, some dont, be glad it didnt fail and kill your motor.

I had one that I couldn't get out since the pulley was seized, I have the special tool required to remove the fan but it would not budge. I ended up not being able to disconnect the fan from the pump.

After a lot of cursing and trying, its easy to damage the radiator, so be careful. Some even go as far as putting plywood to protect it in case the pump does come out while your pulling full force.

On this job I priced a new fan, under 20 bucks, plus a pulley, another 20 bucks Ended up just snapping the damn fins off one by one, this allowed me to yank the entire assembly out. Its hanging on my garage wall, a trophy to my saving $500 over what the dealer would have charged for the pump alone. My new pump was 51 bucks delivered and far superior to OEM.

Sometimes you have to use leverage, but first make sure the pump is sitting square, meaning is it flush with the mount? if not even it up with the bolts. Or if your going to flush the coolant anyway ( which you should) try a VERY small amount of penetrating lube. I have PB Blaster, dont really see what all the hype is over it though, any of my Break Free gun oils works just as well if not better.

If that doesn't work, Im thinking something bad is going on. Try some heat, carefully with just a regular hair dryer, unless your a pro I would not use a heat Gun.

If your new pump fit in, then none of the old pump was there. Its an easy job if you have the proper tools and dont wait until the car has 100K on it.

After this last job I still had a squeal, changed the AC belt tensioner, belt, accessory belt tensioner, belt and Idler pulley. Now the noise comes and goes, driving me out of my mind. Definitely sounds belt related. Going to try degreasing, maybe I got a belt contaminated, for 6.99 might as well put new belts on..

The joys of a 3 year old BMW. Oh yea, my fan for cabin air is making noise now.

Im staring at my wife's car, change the oil, fill with regular and go. 1 year older never seen a tool, ever. The difference in quality and reliability is startling. Now I love my BMW, but my god, what next is all I think when I start it, I have owned a lot of various brands, never was that ever a concern to me, not even a consideration.

To me this is unacceptable. Waterpumps as preventative maintenance every 2 years for my driving distance? come on BMW, christ my dads Buick can keep a waterpump for 10 years or more, I have more power window failures on a 3 year old car than he has had in his 22 car life, and I have a Coupe!

I changed my water pump, thermostat, both radiator hoses, belts and tensioner this past Sunday. The Waterpump came out easy once the two M6 bolts went in. My bolts were just as long as the ones on the pulley that bolts onto the waterpump. In fact you can also use those bolts to get your WP off. I chipped my WP platic pulley with a screw driver and eventually soaked it with penetrating oil to get it off. Yea, its back on and I will order a new this week to replace it.

My sqeaking noise at idle has disappeared and it use to drive me crazy when waiting in drive at a drive through.

I noticed that when my WP came off the impeller was metal and I thought it would be plastic. I heard that this was a reason to change it before it damages the car and I decided to do this as preventative maint. My question is were the early e46's impeller plastic and some were changed after the fact or was there a production change in my year (2000) that was included in my car's build? My build is 03\00.

One more note adding the 50\50 mix was easy according to the Bentely manual and I was really worried that the system would have air and overheat. I was impressed with procedure to fill it up and thought this was smart by BMW. Am I wrong to think this way? The last Wp that I changed was on a 1980 Cutlass Supreme for my dad from way back in the day.