Help!! water pump does not want to come out.!!!

[jep23ing]

Hello, Mi 2007 aveo got close to 100K and I decided to replace the the timing belt. Several people suggested to replace the pulleys and the water pump as well. When taking out the timing belt, the water pump did not turn at all to release the pressure on the belt even after taking out the three bolts that were holding it in!. I took off one of the pulleys to be able to retire the timing belt, but now the water pump is sitting there without any movement. I took off the three bolts but still the pump does not want to move at all!!! any advice will be GREATLY appreciated!!!

[xintersecty]

There is a huge thread by one of the members who spent an eternity trying to get his out. Since you have a replacement, make sure you have removed the plastic that is one top of it. I would take a rubber hammer to it and beat the living crap out of it. Considering there is not much room you will not be able to put much force on it with each swing.

[jep23ing]

Thanks! I just checked the thread out. What happened with that pump is freaking me out! Hopefully mine is not that bad. I will hammer it until I'll get it out. Let you know the outcome.

[avguy]

Never happened to me, but if it did I wouldn't want to hammer on the pump. Tapping while holding on to it with the other hand yes, but not much more than that. Remember that even though you don't care about the pump that's on there now, there is also the mating surface on the block to consider. It's easy to imagine the pump impeller making solid contact with the block if it's being driven out with lots of force. If you put any kind of scratch into that surface, that's likely to be really bad news. The guy in the other thread did manage to cut/drill/hammer it out, but IIRC that Aveo never got back on the road to confirm if there was any damage caused by the stuff he did to get it out.

If tapping doesn't break it free, you might try this. I have a large slip joint pliars which is a really great tool to have if you don't already have one. Mine opens to 4 1/2" and has 9" long handles. I naturally don't have access to an Aveo with the guts out to check this, but I THINK a pliars like that could be manuvered in some way in order for it to close onto the pump, with the handles in a place that you can get to. If it can, then back-and-forth circular/lateral movements should be able to break it free. If it's really on there good, then maybe the pliar handles could be extended with pipes to get more leverage. If doing that breaks the pump free, it won't hit the mating surface because it's still being held by the pliars.

Good luck and hope it works out well for you!

[jep23ing]

Thanks for the advice avguy. Actually I tried to get it out with a pair of 10" vise-grip pliars. It did not move at all. I got already the special WP tool to try to get it out. I'll try the special tool first, maybe using a pipe or something to extend the arm. If that is not working, I'll try the rubber hammer instead.

[avguy]

The special WP tool with the 1/2" drive and short handle is really intended to just turn a freely-moving pump to adjust the belt tension. Although it might work to break a frozen pump free, I'd be a bit concerned about that 1/2" drive linkage giving way if the forces aren't well aligned. If you were able to get that big vice grip locked onto the pump, how about slipping a snug-fitting pipe over the handles for lots of extra leverage? Seems like that would be even better than the slip pliars that I mentioned above. Was there lots of rusty coolant or other crud when you drained the cooling system?

[jep23ing]

You were right; I was not able to do any force with the special tool. I tried to extend the arm of the vise-grip but every time I applied force the pliers slipped. What I finally ended doing was getting a long piece of hard wood and started hammering the pump. Actually I used two pieces of wood because the first one ended in pieces. After almost one hour (was losing my patience) I heard a hollow sound and the rest of the coolant started coming out! The surfaces holding the pump were in bad shape. Actually I had to use a fine sand paper to get them smooth; I did not want a leaking pump seal after all this work. The rest was as usual. By the way, it is VERY IMPORTANT TO MARK THE ORIGINAL BELT as everyone said. I didn’t (my bad) and took me ages to get the right timing. I started hammering the pump out around 7.30 pm. Got everything together around 11.30 pm. The car did a weird noise when I first started but continued smooth for about 15 min. Idling around 900 rpm and temp in normal range. After that I assumed everything was OK and called the day. It was an amazing feeling driving to work this morning!!!

[xintersecty]

Congratulations. The extended piece of wood was my next advice. I am glad you were able to think of that. I agree that the mating surfaces is an issue however with that much "corrosion" acting as glue the surfaces will need some TLC with sandpaper which you did. Any pictures? We on the Aveo forum love car porn almost as car horror!

[jep23ing]

Hello again, I did not take really good pics. However, These ones show the water pump and the corrosion happening in the block. That was going really bad. I am happy I replace the WP. One thing less to worry about!!