ive got a 99 dakota slt 318 and the water pump went out and i dont have the money to take it to a shop so i know its a tight place to work where the pump is but any body every replaced one on this model dakota and can tell me what im getting into

 

I will move this to the 2nd generation Dakota sub-forum.

 

Its not that hard to replace. But a little trick, after all the bolts have been removed use a hammer and hit the water pump from the bottom of the pump. Not the top. That because if you hit the pump at the top of the pump, you will most likely break the seal around the timing cover. If you hit it the pump from the bottom, you will be fine. Because you have 4 bolts on the bottom.

 

The bolts are differents lengths, so I made a diagram and labelled each bolt with a piece of tape. All in all it wasn't that bad, the hardest thing to remove for me was the Fan/clutch assembly.