Hi Paul,

I am only average on some of these mechanical repairs, but I managed to to
put in a water pump on the 2.1 a couple of years ago.  Like Scott said, it
is a real pain.

- yes, the cross over pipe that goes to the right is awful, but somehow I
managed to wiggle it out of the way enough with the pulley in place to get
the water pump to clear this pipe.  I think I must have wiggled it for 15
minutes here and there to find the right alignment to get it out of the way
far enough.

- I left the distributor in, even though some of the advice is to remove
it.  The AC has to be fully out of the way.

- As you mentioned make sure to have allen wrenches for a socket set, I have
an assortment, much better than those less usable 90 degree allen wrenches.

- Only hangup (besides lots of fiddling) was I needed a thin walled socket.
There is one nut securing the water pump where the clearance between the nut
and the water pump body is really narrow.  A standard socket would not fit
over the nut, so I had to run out to Sears and get a thin walled socket.  I
just looked in the tool box, and there are 2 thin walled sockets there:  13
and 15 mm, sorry I can't recall the size of this one, but I am guessing 13
mm since I recall they were pretty small nuts.

But it was a very nice emotional accomplishment.  I recall estimates of $400
- $500 from the nearby shops, and I had a new water pump in the parts box,
so my cost ended up probably $20 for the socket, misc. stuff, and some
beer!  And it has held up for a couple of years now with no leaks.  It took
me probably 5-6 hours, but I work slow and methodically on some of these
things.  I made a list of each thing I removed, with notes, as I went along,
to enhance the probability of putting it all together again in the reverse
order.  I figure Scott can probably do this in about 5 minutes if he had a
2.1 without rust and corrosion :).

Roland

On Thu, Jun 9, 2011 at 6:28 AM, Paul Smith <paulwithwesty@gmail.com> wrote:

> Thanks for the very good information. The last water pump I did was on a
> Volvo 240, not too difficult as I recall. This looks a good deal more
> "challenging". I was just out staring at the water pump assembly and area.
> I
> seem to recall reading somewhere in the list archives that the allen bolts
> are 6mm - if so I'll go get a new 6mm allen head bit, maybe I can find a
> set
> of several sizes. I also am wondering about the pipe that goes under the
> crank pulley (as Scott mentioned). If I undo the hose bit on the other side
> of the crank pulley, can I get more play on the pipe, or is that required
> in
> any case?
> Thanks again for the info.
> Cheers - Paul
>
> On Thu, Jun 9, 2011 at 12:37 AM, Scott Daniel - Turbovans <
> scottdaniel@turbovans.com> wrote:
>
> > Hi Paul,
> > I just did that job last night..
> >  - replace water pump on a 2.1 waterboxer with AC.
> >
> > I've done the job 20 times at least,
> > I have various trick tools, and lots of tricks.  So not like I haven't
> done
> > it a lot before.
> > And  I have done hundreds of water pump replacement jobs in my career, on
> > all kinds of cars.
> >  With a doubt,
> > to do  it 'in place' ...it is the hardest water pump job you're ever
> going
> > to do.
> > They did not plan much at all for it being done with engine in the van ,
> or
> > crankshaft pulley on the engine.
> > it's doable. ...'just' doable.
> > Each bolt holding the metal pipe on, on the left.. - each one had been
> > installed gorilla tight, with bare metal-to-metal threads ..so almost
> rusted
> > in place.
> > and each one took about 5 seperate attempts to get it out without
> stripping
> > out the 6 pt. allen part.
> > And the allens on the pipe on the right ...same deal .....each one was a
> > separate struggle in itself..not just in access, but in danger of
> stripping
> > out the allen part of the screw.  Plus thee were in hyper tight on dry
> > metal-to-metal threads ....just trying to rust.
> >  Then....
> > the 3 nuts that secure the w. pump onto the block..
> > the lower left one was hidden behind oil cooler hoses, so that meant
> > removing oil filter and lowering the oil cooler down a bit...that was the
> > only part of the job that was 'just remove a fastner and a part'.
> >  So getting that far ..took a good couple of hours..
> > and here's the crowning 'gotcha' of the whole job..
> > even after the pipe on the lower right is unbolted from the w. pump ..
> > and the water pump securing 3 nuts are removed
> > and the  hose on the right end of the right side pipe is loose to the
> pipe
> > can move out of the way to get the w. pump off the 3 studs it sits on ..
> >  The pipe is badly captured by the crankshaft pulley ..
> > and the water pump is captured by that pipe.
> > The big pulley  isn't  easily get removed or big bolt loosened with
> engine
> > fully installed in the van ..
> > you'd  have to start messin' with muffler tin, lower the rear of the
> engine
> > , etc.
> > or a tricky tool to reach the big bolt.
> > Maybe even muffler off to get at that big bolt..
> > so ..
> > to do it wiithout removing the big pully ..
> > you can barely jam.....after about 15 tries ..the water pump past the
> pipe
> > there.
> >  It was  a solid 2 1/2 hours to get the old pump finally off the damn
> > engine !
> > had to loosen AC compressor to get that belt out of the way ..
> > and same for power steering ..helped to have that belt out of the way ..
> > but those are not hard..
> >  and it would be 5 times easier if the w. pump was secured to the block
> > with bolts rather than nuts on studs.
> > putting the new  one in, had to physcially force it past that lower right
> > side pipe ..
> > like pry with a bar.
> >
> > I told the people it would take 5 hours ..
> > it doesn't 'look' that hard just glancing in there ..
> > but .....it did, it took 5 hard hours to do that job completely and
> > properly.  More than that even.
> >      It's so bad it's a joke.
> > it was never really intended to be replaced with engine completly in the
> > van .
> > it's possible, but a real struggle.
> >  if one of those allen screws had stripped out ..
> > we woulda been lowering the back of the engine, removing stuff from the
> > engine for access..
> >  that would have pushed it to 6 or 7 or even more, hours of not very fun
> > work.
> >
> > and for anyone reading..
> > please, very few fasteners should be installed bare metal-to-metal at the
> > threads.
> > Either anti-seize compound..
> > or ..this works super well, I put red Permatex High tach on the bolt
> > threads..
> > it' sticks 'em there , like anti-vibation ..
> > and it prevents rusting of the theads...and screws and bolts used in
> nasty
> > place like cooling sysetem parts.............come out as sweetly as could
> be
> > year later.
> > Teflon paste from the hardware store also works very well..
> > same benefits, and the bolts come out years later just fine.
> >
> > same for spark plugs ..
> > they want copper or aluminum anti-seize compound on their threads. In my
> > world, bone dry spark plug threads is just plain very bad workmanship.
> Rare
> > is the day that I find any sparkplugs installed with anything on the
> > threads, unless I did it myself.
> >
> > to me, on very few threaded fasteners is the spec 'bare metal' .
> > With few exceptions, all threads like something on them.
> > varies by what it is ..
> > but ...for example..
> > engine oil,
> > lock- tite,
> > red permatex hight tach gasket sealer,
> > teflon paste,
> > copper or aluminum anti-seize etc...
> >
> > that water pump job took LOTS longer than it need to, since all the
> > fasteners were badly overtighted, and bone dry threads.
> >  ( and I won't mention the extensive use of cheap american small # 4 hose
> > clamps, everywhere,  like on the fuel hoses ...or the spark plug boot
> that
> > was trying to rub through an uncovereed fuel hose ..
> > or old fuel hose being used in part of the cooling system, which made
> that
> > hose  brittle and crumbly ..causing a leak.
> > This is all too typical on vanagons that I see ..really careless and
> sloppy
> > work, sorry to say. )
> >
> > Do the best work you can, I suggest.
> > Scott
> > www.turbovans.com
> >
> >
> >
> > ----- Original Message ----- From: "Paul Smith" <paulwithwesty@GMAIL.COM
> >
> > To: <vanagon@GERRY.VANAGON.COM>
> > Sent: Wednesday, June 08, 2011 6:40 PM
> > Subject: Water Pump Replacement
> >
> >
> >
> >  Hello,
> >>
> >> Over the past few months I've noticed that my coolant level has started
> >> dropping, when previously it barely ever did. Finally tracked the leak
> >> down
> >> because it got worse. Its dripping out of the little drain/weep hole on
> >> the
> >> water pump, so a water pump replacement is in order. I determined that
> the
> >> leak was from the weep hole by placing a little cloth wrapped to the end
> >> of
> >> a dowel and running the engine while I pressed the cloth/dowel up
> against
> >> the pump hole. The dripping stopped and the cloth got soaked with
> coolant.
> >> The PO replaced the engine with a rebuilt (from Boston Engine) about
> >> 52,000
> >> miles ago, so I imagine the water pump was new then. The hoses, pipes,
> and
> >> clamps look to be in good condition also, so likely all were replaced
> then
> >> as well.
> >> I'm looking for any advice, things to watch for, ways to manage the
> tight
> >> confines, etc. I've done some work on my Westy (89 2wd, with AC) and I
> >> have
> >> a "normal" set of tools. I replaced the water pump belt about 3,000
> miles
> >> ago (and once before that), try to carefully set tension to spec so as
> not
> >> to over-stress the water or power steering pump bearings. Things do look
> >> tight in there, hopefully I can swing the AC compressor up a little bit
> >> once
> >> the belts are off. Any tips or advice would be welcome. On the other
> hand,
> >> if you think its better handled by a qualified and equipped mechanic,
> then
> >> let me know that also.
> >>
> >> Cheers - Paul
> >>
> >
> >
>