OK,

Fan shroud is off my Dakota. Couldn't get the fan off so I've decided to just proceed and take the pump off with the fan on.

Someplace I read that it is best to move the AC compressor and the alternator but it seems I can get to all the mounting bolts with these in place. Any advice?

Any advice on getting the pump back onto the short bypass hose at the top of the pump?

Again thanks in advance I have found this forum to be a big help!

Mark

 

You need to remove the clutch fan before you remove the water pump. You will have to put the old clutch fan back onto the new pump anyway. You will have a very hard if not impossible time removing the water pump with the clutch fan still on it and a hard time removing the clutch fan from the pump with the pump off the engine.

Autozone and Advance have a tool you can rent for free to help hold the water pump pulley so you can remove the clutch fan. Some have said the tool worked some said it didn't. It sorta kinda worked for me. The spanner wrench didn't fit the pulley very well. What I did was on the face of the pulley there are 4 holes. I put some large diameter bolts into 2 of the holes on the pulley face and then the spanner wrench from the rental tool kit fit snug around the bolts. I held the wrench on the bolts with one hand and turned the fan clutch nut towards the passenger's side of the truck with the other hand. The fan clutch nut came loose pretty easily. I had to use a big ole adjustable wrench to fit the fan clutch nut.

I had to remove my fan clutch again a few months later because the aftermarket fan clutch I had installed was bad. When I took it off that second time, I didn't even need the rental tool. I just set my wrench on the nut with the handle pointing up and gave it 2 good whacks with a big hammer. The nut popped loose very easily then too.

If your fan is like mine there is a place on it where 2 of the blades are spaced further apart than the others. Turn the fan so that space is facing up and it will give you more room to work. Also you can make your own water pump pulley-holding tool out of a good piece of steel stock and a couple of bolts. Measure the distrance between 2 of the holes in the face of the pulley and drill 2 holes that same distance apart in the steel stock. Then put 2 bolts through the drilled holes and tighten them down with nuts, then insert the bolts into the holes in the pulley face to hold it still while you loosen the clutch fan nut.

It is best replace the water pump inlet tube now while everything is apart. You can buy a new tube for 10 bucks at the parts store and it's easier than trying to remove the old one. It's a lot easier to get the water pump off if you remove the alternator and AC compressor first. You should be able to remove the alternator bolts easier with the fan out of the way, and you can just unbolt the compressor and move it to the side to get it out of the way to work on the water pump. Personally, when I do a job like this I like to remove what parts I need to give myself as much room to work as possible.

I would also say get a good quality reman pump from Napa. Their reman pumps are made in Mexico but they are still a lot better quality than their "new" pumps, which the new label pumps are all made in China. This is not a job you want to have to do twice because of a bad part. Just my 2 cents there.

Jimmy

 

I also found it easier to R&R when I moved the AC compressor and the alternator out of the way, g/l.