HELP! Water pump bolts 2000 V8

[WncLee]

I am changing the water pump & 2 of the bolts will not come off & do not want to break them off like the thermostat housing bolts did. The 2 that don't want to budge at all are the ones that take the deep well sockets, they have already rounded off. I have tried a liberal amount of PB Blaster with no luck, I have also tried hitting them with a torch & still no luck, they are being down right stubborn. Has anyone had this & how did you get them off? One is on the right which I am guessing it's got the oil pressure sender wire stuck onto it & the other is on the left that has the crank position sensor wire stuck onto it. I was thinking of going to go get 2 nuts that will thread onto the post, weld the nut to the post & then take an impact to it, the kind you beat with a hammer, which will involve removing the radiator & condenser,which I just charged the A/C system as I replaced the compressor,hose & accumulator last week & didn't want to have to recharge the system.Was worried about getting an air impact on it as I see the bolts breaking off, I do have an extractor set but really don't want to have to get that far into it. I tried cussing it,didn't work, tried taking a break & drinking a beer to calm down, didn't work, I'm thinking the Wild Turkey 101 isn't going to work either but it sure does taste good LOL. This has got me really frustrated,could be worse I could be working on a Prius LOL. People here have saved me many times & I hope this is one of them.

 

[FordGT55]

Those two bolts you are trying to remove go through the pump into the timing cover and block. PB blaster may help but here heat is your best friend with how deep the bolt goes. I just replaced my timing cover/chain/ water pump over this weekend. Sounds like you may need to get ready to go that route. The water pump bolts tend to break often on the V8s. Check out my registry for pictures of the install of the timing chain it also has pictures of the water pump bolts are located if you happen to mix them up.

 

[WncLee]

I knew if I kept wrenching on them I was going to snap them & could tell they were all the way into the block by the design. I soaked the whole area with PB in hopes it would soak down to them, applied 3 times so far. I went out & got a pencil torch as the one I had was more of a broad pattern, I'm going to let the PB soak over night & then hit it with heat in the morning. I know they will be harder to get out than the thermostat bolts were, I also picked up all new bolts while I was out,minus those 2 as they didn't have any that long in grade 8,will see if Napa has some tomorrow. Thanks for the info, I was thinking I might as well to the timing chain while I had all that apart since it isn't that much more to do while I'm already right there. I'm wanting to do some mods once I get this sorted out so the chain will be some extra assurance when I'm hammering down on the throttle,ordering the underdrive pulley which will hopefully be in Wednesday when I have to have it all back together.I am hoping it will go easy after the long soak & torching it,let you now.I can only do a bit here & there, just had my L5-S1 & L4-L5 vertebrae fused along with the 3 discs above that cut down slightly & bone spur removal,have massive bone spurs all over my neck also which I was supposed to have removed tomorrow but insurance is taking their time approving & my left arm doesn't work the way it should, so my work is going a bit slow.

 

[Mounty99]

I am changing the water pump & 2 of the bolts will not come off.

I had to use heat when I changed out my water pump few years back. And don't strip or break, because those bolts are impossible to find. And the dorman kit that looks like it will work....won't. Good luck!

 

[FordGT55]

Agreed with mounty I purchased the bolt kit just in case. Not even close to the right sizes. If you end up messing up your timing cover I can send you my old one it just needs cleaned up and the crank seal replaced. Not cracked or messed up at all.

 

[WncLee]

I'm having to wait to work on it because of rain, it seems heat was helping & one was starting to come out as I think it would have snapped with the amount that it turned. Will get back on it once the storms pass. I had read that about the water pump bolt kits, I got a bunch of grade 8 bolts & was going to weld on pieces I cut from the old bolts to be able to put the wiring back in it's place if what Napa supplies me doesn't work. The closest Ford dealer is a 45 minute drive for me as I live way up on a mountain here.

 

[bobflood]

Just finished replacing the timing chain cover gasket; had much the same problem with those two bolts. Problem is that those bolts go thru the timing cover and water pump into the block; they tend to rust up along their whole lenght. We just keep working them back and forth; lots of PB Blaster and penetrating oil. Rounded one head so much that we had to use a bolt extractor on it to loosen, and vise grips to tighten back. A true PITA job but they eventually came out w/o breaking.

Ended up going to Fastenall to get bolts the correct lenght to replace them; they did not have bolts with the extra studs on the end to tie down the sensor wires so just zip tied the wires best I could out of the way.

++1 on the Dorman kit; I complained to RockAuto and got the money (a whole $4.63!) credited back. Good luck.

 

[masospaghetti]

I also got the stupid Dorman kit, completely useless.

If you end up replacing the timing cover gasket, be warned - if you have a cast aluminum pan, there's no way you can replace the gasket without loosening up the entire pan. If you have AWD, this is a royal pain to do, some of the bolts are almost entirely blocked by the front differential.

Just be aware that it may be a bigger job than you thought. Fel-pro provides instructions that WILL NOT WORK unless you loosen up the pan. If you have a stamped steel pan, it may have enough "give" to allow you to install the cover without loosening up the entire thing.

 

[SoNic67]

Reading this post I started to have nightmares. I was planning to replace the water pump (at 130k miles). Based on stories of rust here, and my experience with spark plugs completely fused with rust inside my block, I am scared...

 

[Mounty99]

Awhile back, forum member Jastawajz posted that the 94/95 mustang bolts would work?? I have not verified this, but might be worth a shot if in need.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/161024210857

 

[bobflood]

If you are only doing the water pump, and not the timing cover gasket, you do not have to mess with the oil pan. Water pump bolts at the two ends of the pump are a PITA. I replaced my timing chain cover gasket; I removed all of the oil pan bolts to drop it down, but it went back together OK using the old gasket and has not leaked so far. If I did it again, I would just remove the front four pan bolts that actually go into the timing chain cover. I would just loosen the remaining bolts enough to drop the pan as far as possible without actually removing the bolts. Good luck.

 

[Lostcause66]

I had the same problem when changing my timing cover gasket. Those two bolts took four hours to get out. I was able to keep rocking them back and forth and eventually they started to come loose, 2.5hrs later I had them out. Good luck

 

[bill06447]

The two bolts opposite each other (9 and 3 o'clock?) broke when I had to replace my water pump; a little ingenuity and it all went back together without having to remove the timing chain cover, just left the two bolts out, tapped and plugged the holes in the pump that the bolts would have gone through and used copious amounts of RTV vs. the paper gasket. Still no leaks a year later.

Bill