I have a 2000 Durango SLT that requires a water pump replacement due to a leak from the weep hole (so I have been told by my dealership). The dealership wants to charge me around $500 for the replacement. Is this something that is realistic to do on my own? Are there any special tools I need to remove the belt or water pump? Any tips would be greatly appreciated.

 

Straight from a Haynes manual that I just received. I might have to being doing this same job this weekend to save some money.


Disconnect cable from negative of battery terminal

Drain cooling system

Remove the cooling fan and shroud

Remove drivebelts and water pump pulley

Loosen the clamps and detach the hoses from the water pump

Remove the water pump coolant return tube mounting bolt

Remove bolts and detach the water pump from the engine.

Clean the bolt threads and the threaded holes in the engine to remove corrosion and sealant.

Compare the new pump and old pump.

Remove all traces of old gasket material from the engine with a gasket scraper.

Clean engine and new water pump mating surfaces with lacuer thinner or acetone.

Apply a thin coat of RTV sealant to the engine side of the new gasket

Apply a thin layer of RTV sealant to the gasket mating surface of the new pump, then carefully mate the gasket and the pump. Slip a couple of bolts throught the pump mounting holes to hold gasket in place.

Carefully attach the pump and gasket to the engine and thread the bolts in the holes finger tight.

Install the remaining bolts. Tighten them to proper torque.

Reinstall all parts removed and install belt as originally mounted.

Refill cooling system and check the drivebelt tension.

Run the engine test for leaks.



Hope this helps.... damn this is going to take some time on Sunday. Oh well, good luck and wish me luck on my water pump exchange.

 

If you are not too car illiterate, it can be done. I have done it for my 86 camaro and was pretty straight forward. I didn't need any special tool either. $500 is too much!

 

You can't compare replacing water pumps for different engines, it may be straight forward on your Camaro, but not on another car.

Just as an example to replace the ater pump on a 2.4L Twin Cam out of a Cavalier, requires you to remove the head and timing chain and is an 8 hour job.

Whenever you do something like that I highly suggest that at the least you have a Haynes or Chiltons manual with you, or even better a Factory Service Manual

 

I think the case of Cavalier is very rare. I compared with my camaro's case because water pump replacement is pretty common. Durango is not such a case too. (You will, of course, need to remove a fan, alternator and possibly a steering pump). As Saint says, you might want to have a haynes manual.

 

Thanks everyone! Haynes, your list is really helpful!

 

This thread helped me and I changed the water pump on a Saturday morning. The biggest trouble was not having the special tool to remove the fan. I ended up pulling the pump and using a large screw driver to hold the pump whilst removing the large nut that holds the fan. The pump and fan will not come out together. The fan has to be removed before the pump.

Afew notes...
1)Only two 10mm socketscrews hold the fan housing to the front of the Durango. I removed the switches and washer tubes and laid the fan housing to the side near the battery. There was some loss of liquid. These screws are the more difficult part of the job. Luckily I had a ratcheting wrench.
2) Take time to note which bolts come from which hole because there are three differnt types (long, short, and one special bolt on the top).
3) A bolt holds the small tube into the cooling pump. You do not need to remove the hose, just take off the bolt and pull the whole assemblyout of the pump.
4) Scraping the old gas off is a chore. A flexible razor (the type that retracts) helped the most.
5) Another thread in this forum pointed out that all you need is a 15mm socket to take of the belt. Very simple. One of the pullies is dedicated to applying pressure. Just pull it to the left, like the drawing shows, and off comes the belt.
6) There is a water gasket sealant. I used some on both side of the new gasket. It helped to hold that gasket in place. I started a few of the bolts with the gasket in place to hold it in place.
7) I bought a Duralast water pump for around $60 and it came with a new gasket, a new o-ring and a threaded hose adaptor. The special tool for removing the fan would have helped a lot, but I don't know if the auto parts store sells it. There is a diagram onthe Dodge ******** that shows the tool and gives the part number.

 

Just replaced one of these the other weekend. Took about 3 hours. You need to got to a dodge dealership so they can remove the fan blade from the old water pump with a special tool. Other wise it's an easy job.

 

You dont need to take it to a dodge dealership. All you need to have is 3 tools. A large wrench, a slip wrench(you know the one with the long rubber end that loops back to itself) and a hammer. Loosen the shroud and push it up a little, then take the belt off with a 15mm wrench, then put the slip wrench around the water pump pulley holding it firmly in place, take the wrench and put it over the nut. Hit the wrench with the hammer COUNTER-clockwise a few times and the nut comes free. Then remove the nut and pull the fan and shroud out. The only pain in the A## problem is getting the fan clutch back on the stem of the water pump. My arms got dead tired trying to hold the fan clutch still while trying to spin the water pump. If i had to do it again i could get it off in about 25 min.

 

if its a 5.2 or 5.9 motor you can use this as much as possible...

https://dodgeforum.com/m_224411/tm.htm