replacing the water pump in my 2003 grand am

[maryalisonw]

I need to replace the water pump in my 2003 Grand Am GT and have no clue how. Ive looked for videos on youtube and read almost every post on this site and have found nothing. Can anyone direct me to some instructions? Thank you!!!

 

[maryalisonw]

Okay I just finished I found instructions on ehow.com http://www.ehow.com/how_4590549_replace-water-pump-pontiac-grand.html

and I bought a user manual. It took me about 2 hours and the pump was $20...I saw other people say mechanics were going to charge $1000!! Def a do it your self

 

[maryalisonw]

http://www.ehow.com/how_4590549_replace-water-pump-pontiac-grand.html and I bought a manual. It took me 2 hours and I spent $20 on a new pump.

 

[planenut_2000]

What engine is in it?

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[funin405]

I am about to tackle this job on my '03 Grand Am Gt. Will give details and hope to confirm the previous notes on ease of the job. If anyone has any additional info, please post.

 

[funin405]

Did it. 3.4L Grand Am GT

With the help of a good friend, thanks Josh!, we replaced the water-pump in my 2003 3.4L engine. It was very easy. The link cited above from ehow was pretty helpful. But remember to BE SURE to use the bleeder-valve on the upper part of the pump housing on the small water lines to the upper part of the engine (This is the small brass hex nut) when refilling the system with coolant to avoid any air pockets. The hardest part of the job was , as usual, reattaching the lower radiator hose and getting the hoseclamp back on in the tight space. It can be done from above but save yourself some headache and put the car on jackstands and do this from below. You may want to consider draining the system by disconnecting the radiator hose from the intake side of the water pump and bending it down to drain the coolant low enough in the system to do the job. Side-note: if you are replacing the serpentine belt while you have this chance, you have to jack up the engine from the bottom while taking off the engine-bracket on the top, passenger side. This is fairly easy with a floor-jack and 1x2 piece of scrap wood to avoid damaging the oil-pan.

 

[funin405]

Replacing The Serpentine Belt - 2003 Grand AM GT

There is a engine support bracket at the top, passenger side that has to be disconnected to remove the old belt and replace with a new belt. Before you loosen the bracket, you have to support the engine. There is not much ground-clearance, so you may have to put the car on jack-stands if you dont have a small, low-profile floor-jack. We did this with a small floor-jack and a piece of 1x2 scrap wood between the oil pan and the jack to avoid damage. Once the bracket is loose, only jack up the engine far enough to get the belt past the bracket. Don't support the whole weight of the car. Once you get this part done and the bracket re-installed, the rest of the job is standard stuff. Some forums on other sites are unclear on whether or not you have to take the engine support loose. YOU DO. and you have to support the engine before taking it loose.