so the water pump on my Impala w/3400 failed quickly and spectacularly
this AM... (belt started chirping very occasionally thought to self "I
better get that fixed," 10 miles later the car was running hot and
smelling coolanty, before I got to the nearest grocery store to pick
up a couple gallons of water the heater stopped working, took on
almost two gallons of water to get it filled up again so I could limp
back home...) are these particularly fragile or should I be worried
that I have another root cause of the problem like a head gasket? Car
has about 72,000 miles on it, seems a little young to lose a water
pump. Reason I ask is the car is being repaired right now and I need
to visit a lot of job sites tomorrow... I need to carry more stuff
than I can fit in my 944 but I don't like driving the F-150 in city
traffic... if it lets me down tomorrow I'm going to be royally
screwed...

nate

No known issues regarding the w'pump.
"N8N" <njnagel@hotmail.com> wrote in message
news:ca3cca1c-a405-4f2e-a087-708721068ec5@v13g2000pro.googlegroups.com...
> so the water pump on my Impala w/3400 failed quickly and spectacularly
> this AM... (belt started chirping very occasionally thought to self "I
> better get that fixed," 10 miles later the car was running hot and
> smelling coolanty, before I got to the nearest grocery store to pick
> up a couple gallons of water the heater stopped working, took on
> almost two gallons of water to get it filled up again so I could limp
> back home...) are these particularly fragile or should I be worried
> that I have another root cause of the problem like a head gasket? Car
> has about 72,000 miles on it, seems a little young to lose a water
> pump. Reason I ask is the car is being repaired right now and I need
> to visit a lot of job sites tomorrow... I need to carry more stuff
> than I can fit in my 944 but I don't like driving the F-150 in city
> traffic... if it lets me down tomorrow I'm going to be royally
> screwed...
>
> nate




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On Thu, 11 Sep 2008 19:23:52 -0500, "HLS" <nospam@nospam.nix> wrote:

>Nate,
>I replaced a ton of water pumps in my 2.8 litre, which I think is similar to
>yours.
>
>I never blew a head gasket, but know that these engines are not well thought
>of by
>many.
>
>One of the problems I had was that the FLAPS belt was NOT the same as the
>OEM one, much shorter... And this helped wear out the pump.
>
>The 2.8 was one of the better engines I can remember from GM.
>
>I would replace the belt and pump, and see if the fix holds. It may not.

My 2.8 pump went at 120k miles. Gave me plenty of warning weeping,
and in fact I drove from my dad's on the east coast of Florida to the
west coast without adding water. Cost me $120 in Clearwater for
replacement, including new anti-freeze. Was still fine when the car
was junked at 190k miles.
Had my son replace the pump on the '97 Lumina 3.1 before my girls used
the car on a Florida vacation (from Chicago) because the original had
125k miles. Cost @20 bucks and took my son 10 minutes, but he's good.
With these pumps I'd just replace them eery 60k miles or so, just from
hearing others' stories..
Don't know if the 3.4 is the same though.

--Vic

Nate Nagel wrote:
> Vic Smith wrote:
>> On Thu, 11 Sep 2008 19:23:52 -0500, "HLS" <nospam@nospam.nix> wrote:
>>
>>> Nate,
>>> I replaced a ton of water pumps in my 2.8 litre, which I think is
>>> similar to yours.
>>>
>>> I never blew a head gasket, but know that these engines are not well
>>> thought of by
>>> many.
>>>
>>> One of the problems I had was that the FLAPS belt was NOT the same as
>>> the
>>> OEM one, much shorter... And this helped wear out the pump.
>>>
>>> The 2.8 was one of the better engines I can remember from GM.
>>>
>>> I would replace the belt and pump, and see if the fix holds. It may
>>> not.
>>
>> My 2.8 pump went at 120k miles. Gave me plenty of warning weeping,
>> and in fact I drove from my dad's on the east coast of Florida to the
>> west coast without adding water. Cost me $120 in Clearwater for
>> replacement, including new anti-freeze. Was still fine when the car
>> was junked at 190k miles.
>> Had my son replace the pump on the '97 Lumina 3.1 before my girls used
>> the car on a Florida vacation (from Chicago) because the original had
>> 125k miles. Cost @20 bucks and took my son 10 minutes, but he's good.
>> With these pumps I'd just replace them eery 60k miles or so, just from
>> hearing others' stories..
>> Don't know if the 3.4 is the same though.
>>
>> --Vic
>
> Well it only has to last until the fleet people decide to give me a new
> car, which should be... um... about a month and a half ago. Oops. Their
> bad... I guess I was just hoping someone could tell me that it was
> possible to have a pump go bad without being forced, so thanks. I just
> have to get up early and drive about 100 miles before going into the
> office, so I'm hoping that it really is that simple.
>
> BTW I guess maybe it was giving me warning, because the engine sounded
> like a bucket of bolts since practically new. I just ASSumed that it
> was the A/C because it's marginal anyway, but I swear it sounds quieter
> with the new water pump (picked it up about 6 PM, love having a mechanic
> at the end of the street...)
>
> nate
>

well I made it but I swear I smell coolant... hope it's just residual
drippage that didn't get cleaned off the back of the rad.

nate

--
replace "roosters" with "cox" to reply.
http://members.cox.net/njnagel

On Sep 12, 9:31*pm, Nate Nagel <njna...@roosters.net> wrote:
> Nate Nagel wrote:
> > Vic Smith wrote:
> >> On Thu, 11 Sep 2008 19:23:52 -0500, "HLS" <nos...@nospam.nix> wrote:
>
> >>> Nate,
> >>> I replaced a ton of water pumps in my 2.8 litre, which I think is
> >>> similar to yours.
>
> >>> I never blew a head gasket, but know that these engines are not well
> >>> thought of by
> >>> many.
>
> >>> One of the problems I had was that the FLAPS belt was NOT the same as
> >>> the
> >>> OEM one, much shorter... And this helped wear out the pump.
>
> >>> The 2.8 was one of the better engines I can remember from GM.
>
> >>> I would replace the belt and pump, and see if the fix holds. *It may
> >>> not.
>
> >> My 2.8 pump went at 120k miles. *Gave me plenty of warning weeping,
> >> and in fact I drove from my dad's on the east coast of Florida to the
> >> west coast without adding water. *Cost me $120 in Clearwater for
> >> replacement, including new anti-freeze. *Was still fine when the car
> >> was junked at 190k miles.
> >> Had my son replace the pump on the '97 Lumina 3.1 before my girls used
> >> the car on a Florida vacation (from Chicago) because the original had
> >> 125k miles. *Cost @20 bucks and took my son 10 minutes, but he's good.
> >> With these pumps I'd just replace them eery 60k miles or so, just from
> >> hearing others' stories..
> >> Don't know if the 3.4 is the same though.
>
> >> --Vic
>
> > Well it only has to last until the fleet people decide to give me a new
> > car, which should be... um... about a month and a half ago. *Oops. Their
> > bad... *I guess I was just hoping someone could tell me that it was
> > possible to have a pump go bad without being forced, so thanks. *I just
> > have to get up early and drive about 100 miles before going into the
> > office, so I'm hoping that it really is that simple.
>
> > BTW I guess maybe it was giving me warning, because the engine sounded
> > like a bucket of bolts since practically new. *I just ASSumed that it
> > was the A/C because it's marginal anyway, but I swear it sounds quieter
> > with the new water pump (picked it up about 6 PM, love having a mechanic
> > at the end of the street...)
>
> > nate
>
> well I made it but I swear I smell coolant... hope it's just residual
> drippage that didn't get cleaned off the back of the rad.
>
> nate

Update: so far so good but I have a tech tip now... I drove out to my
friend's place about 50 mi. away and a couple times in traffic I
thought I heard a little chirping or clicking from the engine. By the
time I got to his house it was definitely a chirp and when I popped
the hood I saw the WP pulley wobbling back and forth. I immediately
shut it down and found three of the four bolts holding it on
completely missing and the fourth was loose. I guess that would
explain it! I borrowed my friend's car and ran to a nearby hardware
store and bought some new bolts (fortunately there was a store nearby
that sold 8.8 hardware and was open on a Sunday) and installed them
with blue Loctite. There was no evidence of Loctite on the one old
bolt but then again one would not think that that would be necessary -
but apparently it is (either that or the mechanic forgot to go back
and final torque the bolts with the pulley held - one can't develop a
whole lot of torque with just the belt because it runs off only a
small portion of the backside of the serpentine belt)

nate

"N8N" <njnagel@hotmail.com> wrote in message news:72f7c72f-4374-410d-bfad-
There was no evidence of Loctite on the one old
bolt but then again one would not think that that would be necessary -
but apparently it is (either that or the mechanic forgot to go back
and final torque the bolts with the pulley held - one can't develop a
whole lot of torque with just the belt because it runs off only a
small portion of the backside of the serpentine belt)

nate

I never used Loctite on those bolts, and never had them loosen. I suspect
the
previous wrench puller didnt tighten them properly.

Glad you are back in business