today i noticed that the belt on my 1997 ford ranger xl had worn the whole lip of the pulley behind the fan off... i believe its attatched to the water pump.. do i need to replace the entire water pump or can the pulley simply be replaced?
Just the pulley. The water pump/fan assembly is composed of three parts:
[Water pump][pulley][fan]
1) Remove the fan shroud so you have room to work (may have to detach the upper radiator hose from the radiator and bend it back for clearance)
2) You have 4 small screws that attach the fan to the pulley face (IIRC thay are 8mm heads)
3) Detension the the accessory belt (Place the head of your 3/8 drive ratchet into the square hole in the tensioner's face to pull it back and get enough slack to pull the belt off of a pulley. Any one will do, you just need the tension removed) This is a safety step.
4) Remove the 4 bolts that attach the pulley to the water pump (IIRC these are 10mm)
Done. Reassemble with the new pulley installed and you are golden.
It took me and a buddy about 15 mins to remove the fan, fix the leak we had at the base of the water pump and then reassemble it all. As far as things go, this is a pretty easy job.
Good luck, ask back if you have any trouble.
