Water Pump on '94 Grand Am 3.1L

[benjamming]

So I go to Napa yesterday on my way home from work. They don't want to honor the pricing on Napa's website. What's up with that? I couldn't find where it said on their website that it's Internet only pricing.
They sell hoses made by ECR or at least that is who is on the sticker. Is ECR part of Gates? It doesn't appear so by a search under Tomkins the parent company of Gates. Ah, here it is: ECR - Electrochemically resistant, which is developed by Gates.

 

[Merkava_4]

The 2A is the hardening version; you don't want that. The 2B is non-hardening and lasts forever.

 

[benjamming]

So, is the Permatex TDS wrong? The 2A sheet states "It is a slow drying, flexible setting paste that changes to a pliable, non-hardening film through solvent evaporation." Permatex Gasket Sealant 2 page

 

[Merkava_4]

They are not listing the 2B on their web site currently; however, try to get the 2B if it's available. It's too late for me to call them today, but tomorrow I will be calling them. I need to get to the bottom of this matter also.

Whatever you do, do not get the No. 1

 

[benjamming]

The 2B is on the last link that I posted with the 2A and 2C. The 'R' evidently means "carded" as the 2C is boxed and doesn't include the 'R' in the part #. Let me know what you find out.

 

[Merkava_4]

Hi Benjamming,

I called Permatex and they said that 2A, 2B, and 2C are all the same compound, but in different size tubes. I was concerned because I wanted to make sure you got the right compound. Apparently, whenever I've gone to the parts store to buy the Permatex, they've always had the 3 ounce tube 2B.

I usually always coat both sides of the water pump gasket heavily with 2B. I lay the gasket down on a news paper and coat the side that faces the pump and then place it on the pump. Then I coat the other side of the gasket while it's on the pump.

Any bolts that will be threading into a water jacket I coat the threads with Permatex also.

You can clean whatever of 2B compound that gets on your hands off with brake fluid. Any kind of solvents will not effect it.

 

[Humphrey]

Pretty simple job, takes about 30 minutes. Napa parts I bought was new, made in Japan with gasket ($31 last year, if I remembered correctly). I have noluck with Auto Zone parts.

 

[benjamming]

Well, it is a pretty easy job, but I kept finding PM stuff to do while I was working on it. The serpentine belt looked ok & I don't have a belt tension gauge so I didn't change it. I did change the bypass hose. Wow, was the coolant nasty. I had just changed the coolant about 4k miles ago but, of course, I had to add the GM coolant tabs. I guess that makes a real mess everywhere.

However, the paper gasket on the Duralast pump didn't fit - one of the holes didn't line up. I loosened the pulley bolts prior to removing belt, but the pulley would just turn. So, I had to get another ratchet-socket & lock it against the serpentine belt remover to keep the pulley from turning to remove the bolts.

Any tricks to replacing the two heater hoses? I'm not a contortionist. The steering rack has leaked on one of the hoses pretty bad. How much antifreeze will I lose when replacing these 2 hoses?

The coolant outlet that houses the thermostat doesn't leave much room to get the lower bolt out. I had to pick up a new 13 mm wrench for this as I only had a 12 & 14 mm wrench.

 

[onion]

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Wow, was the coolant nasty. I had just changed the coolant about 4k miles ago but, of course, I had to add the GM coolant tabs. I guess that makes a real mess everywhere.

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What sort of coolant do you have in there? Sounds like Dex-sludge or the remnants thereof to me. Why are you adding the coolant tabs?

If you're mysteriously losing coolant... then a whole series of trials & tribulations unique to the GM 60-degree V6 awaits you.

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Any tricks to replacing the two heater hoses? I'm not a contortionist. The steering rack has leaked on one of the hoses pretty bad. How much antifreeze will I lose when replacing these 2 hoses?

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You may not be a contortionist yet... but you'll have to LEARN if you're going to change those hoses. There's no easy way to do it. If I remember right, when I changed those on my '94 Corsica (pretty much the same car), I jacked it up high and set it on stands so may fat a$$ would fit under there... then I removed a wheel (I forget which one). You'll have to access the hoses from directly underneath, through the hole for the tie-rods, AND from directly above, depending on which clamp you're attempting to remove/install. Allow at least a few hours for the job. I don't recall how much coolant you'll lose... but you'll definitely have to drain the radiator.

Also, when I went hunting for parts before doing that job, I couldn't find one of the hoses anywhere. That was about six years ago, so things could've changed by now. One of the hoses is 5/8" on one end and 3/4 on the other- both are molded in a funky shape. I ended up using one cheap Autozone hose and a length of silicon heater hose from the local Kenworth dealer.

Quote:

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The coolant outlet that houses the thermostat doesn't leave much room to get the lower bolt out. I had to pick up a new 13 mm wrench for this as I only had a 12 & 14 mm wrench.

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I'm familiar with that bolt and its more easily accessed companion. If it isn't back together already, do yourself a favor and put some antisieze on them.

 

[benjamming]

I had Neo propylene glycol coolant in there. I had added the coolant tabs b/c it's a GM 3.1L & had shown early signs of coolant in the oil based upon UOA.

I was afraid that the hoses didn't have an easy way. Both of the hoses were bought at Napa & made by Gates. They are both easily purchased now. They were $10.89 & $10.09.