A few years back I installed a new water pump on my 1.9l.  Total time
was just about 4 hours - which included a run to Sears Hardware for a
13mm swivel socket and appropriately sized hex head socket as well as
some time just staring at the thing - and yes I had a beer while doing
it.  Putting the back wheels up on ramps helped ease the work effort
and reduced somewhat the amount of coolant lost.  It was a little scary
but that install worked a whole lot better and longer than the one
installed by an alleged professional.

I've installed a Subaru water pump with the engine on a stand.  If I
had my choice of which to do in the van I think I would still pick the
Subaru over the 1.9 even though it involves messing with the crank
pulley, timing belt, etc.

Chuck
'85 Wolfsburg Westy - 'Roland the Road Buffalo'
w/'95 Subaru EJ22

> Date:    Mon, 7 Jan 2008 19:51:40 -0800
> From:    Scott Daniel - Shazam <scottdaniel@TURBOVANS.COM>
> Subject:
>
> The 2.1 on is 'stupid hard' to do with the engine in the van.
> Really nasty.
> The 1.9 isn't fun either of course.
> They sure were NOT thinking about repairing them with that design.
> Good excuse to go to a subaru engine right there !
> Scott
> www.turbovans.com=20
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: Vanagon Mailing List [mailto:vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com] On
> Behalf =
> Of
> Geza Polony
> Sent: Monday, January 07, 2008 1:47 PM
> To: vanagon@GERRY.VANAGON.COM
> Subject: Re: Water pump?
>
> The poster does not mention what year van or model of engine.
> Apparently =
> the
> water pump change is easier on the 2.1's than the 1.9's. For the
> 1.9's, =
> "all
> day" sounds about right to me, depending on what sort of "relax and =
> enjoy
> favorite beverage" breaks you take.