ok so i have an 88 gxl thats stock...

i am currently replacing the water pump. i have the old water pump removed and before i can install a new one i have to remove a sheared bolt on the driverside of the housing.... its the one where the alternator bracket hooks up to... while removing it i sheared it off... now i am going to try to drill and EZ out it and i was woundering how long is that bolt does it go through the whole water pump and into say the engine block or does it stop in the water pump housing... i just need to know what i am up against.

thank you in advance

 

on 86 onwards engines it is tapped into the front engine plate

 

Ok so i drilled and "attempted" to EZ out the bolt.... to no avail i am worse off now i have a broken EZ off in the bolt no i will have to remove the whole water pump housing and take it to a drill press to remove the Hardend tool steel EZ out... any advice on taking the WP housing off would be appriciated.... i was looking in the FSM and i saw that there are 5 studs that come from the front plate is there anything else that keeps the WP housing attached? cus its stuck...

Thanks Again

 

4 studs and that broken bolt
,, you need to swing the main pullies out the way
suggest you leave in one pulley bolt as else these can be tricky to all re-align if you take them all out

once you have the water pump housing off,, there should be some of that broken bolt left proud to get the grips on

also you may have to cut or remove the wax cam water hose,, and undo the banjos for the OMP lines at the pump end

 

Sweet thanks...i think my WP housing is frozen\stuck or rusted on so I'll have to figure out a way to break out free...on further inspection I still have all 5 main mounting studs from the engine it should be just a short bolt that's brien in the housing...

 

If it were me i would've just replaced the whole front plate along with the water pump and everything. It would just be nice having everything brand new and not having to worry about it again. Like a nice do over, we all wish we had the chance... lol

 

Here is a pick of the WP housing. The sheared bolt is on the right... i understand that i have to move the oil lines on the left before i can get the housing out... but i cannot get the housing free as of yet can anyone see anything i havent taken off that would keep that thing solid... or am i just battling rust here?

 

Weld a few beads to the broken bolt shaft then lock some vice grips onto it.

 

the air pump bracket in the way and the wax cam coolant return hose on the back
( and the coolant sensor connection )

and that is about it , may need some leverage or a tap in a strategic spot where you cant hurt a flange surface

 

So i had some time to think about this problem and being the circumstances what the are i have come up with a bandaid fix, nay a fix that may be more akin to stiches... it still has scars but it should work... i took the advice of welding another bolt on to it to get the old bolt out and i thought to myself what if i just welded just a stud to it and used a nut to secure the wp and the alternator adjusting bracket insted of a bolt and thats what i did. i had a buddy help me with the welding as i do not have one and i hope it holds out till i get money and time to just do it all right when i rebuild the engine.

First we filled my mistake with the extractor and ground it flat...left brken extractor in bolt... may cause corrosion later on but since its already the main problem ill fix it right later

2. we cut a bolt head off and used the remaining stud and beveled it so it would hold a weld and welded it on the filled bolt.

3. used a dremel to get rid of the extra weld/metal

4. "opend" up the hole on new water pump and put a bevel on the inside of the mateing surface so that any excess welld/metal wouldnt cause interferance

5. test fit and ground stud till we had a good and flush fit.

6 used the dremel wire wheel and cleaned up the seal surface on the wp housing so a good seal would be made.

and thats as far as i made it today i will post finished pics once i find out if it all works.. or i will post failed pics and how it didnt... we will see.

 

While your fix may work, you've just kicked the problem down the road- any future waterpumps will have to be modified to fit and the housing cannot be removed unless you can unscrew the welded bolt/stud (which was the problem in the first place).

The way the hosing/pump is mounted almost begs for issues- long, spindly studs/bolts, mismatched metals (aluminum/steel), heat and water...a perfect storm for corrosion and freezing.
However, it still shouldn't be that hard to break the housing free of the rear gasket and whatever corrosion between housing and bolt, which is really what you need to do.
Penetrating lube, some heat and a deadblow hammer should do the trick.

 

You do realize you are suggesting pulling the entire engine and breaking down the shortblock in order to accomplish what you have recommended? For a water pump....

 

I know right.....

 

I totaly agree, Beleive me i have had a few nights to think about the "evil" i have caused.... i know its a cobblers fix and yes i have indeed kicked my problems down the road...


I could not get the wp housing borken loose...penitrating oil and a hammer was not doing the trick i have had it soaking for almost a week and its still as solid as when i started.... i suspect that the preivious owner did a bit of work on the wp and housing and didnt fix the problem then and now i am paying for it...of course i have just perpetuated this cycle by cobbling it back together....but i am moving my family at the end of the month and dont have cash or time to "do it right" but once i am moved i will first on the block to tell you i will be hunting for a new engine/drive train to rebuild and do it right... i bought the car about a year and a half ago. it has about 140k miles and i figured that the engine would go within lets say another year.... i have lasted a year so far and that was a year more than i planned...

so i will fix the real problem and it will get done right, just not right now lol

more pics to come as soon as i get it all back together.

 

Ok so i finaly got it fixed...

Unfortunatly the welding of the stud was and epic fail... so a buddy of mine had some really good extractors with some steel drill guides and we figured we would try to extract it again....FAILED again... the broken extractor made our drill bit wander north too much...so that never worked....

we did however get a nice whole for a good 3/4 of an inch... so we ended up cleaning that whold and we tapped threads into the existing whole we created, inserted JB weld and screwed in a stud....i hate it i hate it i hate it..... but what else am i to do....i am moving two days from now. so its fixed for now and it seems to be holding up nicely....

i had a buddy go to the junk yard and he found a "new" water pump housing and a bunch of hardware so when and if it fails wich i am sure it will. i have a replacement peice....

Thanks for your advice on this fix and i know i will be kicking myself soon but it is what it is....