Removing Water Pump

Need advice from someone who has changed out their water pump.

I have all seven 6 mm bolts removed , but the old water pump won't budge. Is there a trick I 'm not aware of ? The Service Manual doesn't mention anything, but I think I recall someone saying in a post that the left cam gear & cover under the cam gear needs to be removed too. Correct ?? Or maybe the two locating dowels are just corroded and I need to pry a bit harder ??

Jim Van said:

Need advice from someone who has changed out their water pump.

I have all seven 6 mm bolts removed , but the old water pump won't budge. Is there a trick I 'm not aware of ? The Service Manual doesn't mention anything, but I think I recall someone saying in a post that the left cam gear & cover under the cam gear needs to be removed too. Correct ?? Or maybe the two locating dowels are just corroded and I need to pry a bit harder ??

Click to expand...

just keep prying, it will eventually come loose, mine was a bit stubborn too. As I recall the cam gear won't prevent it from breaking loose, it just gets in the way of it coming out.

Been a while for me too but I think I took off the left cam pulley to get the pump out.

What Doug and ForreST said. It'll break loose, but can't come out without removing the left driven pulley and cover (if you're careful you can reuse the gasket), or the frame crosspiece. I recommend the pulley technique, FWIW.

John
via iPhone 6

Thanks guys for that info. I ordered a gasket & seal last night, just in case, along with a set of pulleys. The tensioner pulley I cleaned and re-greased 5K miles ago when I replaced my timing belt didn't feel 100 % when rotated. The idler pulley still feels like new.

So I bit the bullet and got both ........ But it looks like the Partzilla prices on the pulleys came down a bit.

If anyone needs a good used idler pulley, send me a PM. Just pay the postage.

Thanks again. I removed the left cam gear and cover and the water pump just about fell out by itself. The old pump seems like it's in pretty good shape. No evidence of the seal leaking, and the impeller still looks like new. But the shaft bearing may be worn a bit. So, I'm installing my rebuilt pump.

John :

I almost cried. The gasket didn't come out in one piece.......... I had to buy a new gasket. And removing the old gasket was a real pain. Each side was stuck really good ( bad ? ) and it took some time to remove it all.

BTW, the cooling passages look new after 80K miles.

BTW, Got the rebuilt water pump installed. Now waiting for the seal, gasket and pulleys.

I'm also experimenting by installing a 190 degree thermostat. I have always felt the ST1100 runs too cold. I want to see the temp gauge at about 10 o'clock instead of just barely into the indicated normal range @ 9 o'clock. I'm interested in seeing if my gas mileage will increase at a slightly higher temp. Theoretically, it should.

Jim Van said:

I almost cried. The gasket didn't come out in one piece.......... I had to buy a new gasket. And removing the old gasket was a real pain. Each side was stuck really good ( bad ? ) and it took some time to remove it all.

Click to expand...

My gasket experience was the same as yours. BTW, I don't think that was the gasket John was referring to as being reusable. The PITA gasket you're talking about is #22, I think John was referring to numbers 3, 5, 8, & 24.

I was in fact referring to #22. I also replaced the seal (#34).

John OoSTerhuis said:

I was in fact referring to #22.

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wow, that's unbelievable, its a thin paper gasket. Mine was so stuck on both surfaces that simple scraping wasn't enough. I think I ended up removing the last little bit with 400/600 grit wet/dry IIRC.

Hint on the paper gasket: give both surfaces a slight smear of marine grease prior assembly, this should prevent the gasket-paper from bounding...

Jim,
Please tell me, after you get the water pump out can you then get to the lower connection (small spring hose clamp) for the coolant bypass hose?
Tim

You can get at that without removing the water pump. I replaced that hose several years ago w/o having to remove the water pump.
But I might have had the carbs removed. Can't remember.

Can't recall if after removing the water pump, if that hose clamp was right there, or not. Sorry. I bet someone else may chime in.