Ok so Friday night, Im parked at the mall and I go to get back in my car and whoa, theres water all around my car. Seems I have a leaky water pump. (Looking around has lead to that decision) Do you guys have any clue what it should run to be replaced at a shop? Or if I did it myself? I just dont have the time to do it dang it. All advice/comments would be appreciated.
--bryan

You are probally looking at 200 to 300 dollars at a shop.Its is easy to do but time consuming:(

After changing mine four times, I finally made a tool to take the fan off (it screws in). Think this might be a loan a tool at Autozone. Getting the fan off is the hardest part. I don't know about the rest of you but I can never get an aftermarket pump to last two years. Doesn't matter the pump brand or the vehicle.

I would change it your self.. its nothard.. like the others have said.. just takes time.. well worth saving your self the $$ to do it on your own

blah... I knew I would save a lot of $ doing it myself, but gees thats a lot. Ughhh... now I need to try and trade work days so I can actually do this early this week. (FYI - my local autozone is a jerk about the loan a tool program. He has a little pencil box of wrenches and he says "thats all I have, if you dont see it, you have to buy one to use" which I understand, but come'on... I dunno...
--bryan

Bryan...

According to the Autozone web site.. they have a big list of loan a tools.. If you find a certain autozone never has any or is not helpful about them... Call Autozone corporate.. It is amazing how much gets done when you get corporate involved...

Just make sure you tell Corporate you had to go to Checker Auto Parts (or some other place in town) to get a loan a tool.. and it is frustrating when the Autozone website says autozone carries loan-a-tools.

~Mark

Well I sucked it up and just paid to have it done. I couldnt afford not having a working truck, and I didnt have to time to do it myself, so I dropped it off this morning and got it done. Total for the new pump and a coolant flush was $350 and some change. Yeah, bend me over I know... oh well... at least its working again. Thanks for the help/advice guys.
--bryan

Originally posted by Opera House
. I don't know about the rest of you but I can never get an aftermarket pump to last two years. Doesn't matter the pump brand or the vehicle.

Yeah, on my Ranger the original one lasted about 80k, the first replacement only lasted another 20k, the third one was still on there when I sold it with 125k.

Sometimes it may be worth it to spend the extra money to get the OEM part, especially when the labor is a PITA. The first time I replaced the water pump on the Ranger, my back got tweaked from bending over for so long. I had to lie on the floor for an hour or so before I could get up and walk around normally again.:(

I say two things:

1. This isn't rocket science, it can't be that hard to make a good seal, and the last time was just a fluke.

2. It doesn't matter, I'm going to get rid of this car in a year.

Both assumptions have always been wrong. Never underestimate the alure of going cheap!