Todays project from hell!

**89AccordNate** · 01-28-2003, 10:06 PM

Today I noticed my car was ALWAYS low on antifreeze so I decided to get under the car and see what was up. It was leaking from the water pump.....so off I go to the auto parts store happy and merry...$25 later, new pump..10 hours later..still not installed.

I pulled this off today determined to get it done..my friends thought I was crazy, working outside in 6" of snow in a snow suit for 10 hours straight..no stops, no drink breaks to stare at the progress..my friends brought me dinner, and its still sitting outside on the ground.

Its still smoking from the alt belt..anyone know how I can adjust it to make sure its the correct tension? I also lost the bolt that goes on to the end of the ALT adjusting rod (the one on top at the end of the bolt) DO I really need it? It seems tight enough right now..

..I will be looking for that tommorrow. It was 20-25 degrees outside, and snowing all day....therefore the nimbless in the fingers was lost..and the small bolts got dropped, and they dropped into the most screwed up places possible, just my luck.

What to look out for......

The damn plastic timing belt cover! Its a bitch to deal with, it will hender your progess more times then you can count. Its always pushing tight enough where you just cant quite pull the water pump off of the stationary rod... It needs the three bolts taken off of it to loosen it up. There are a few up top, and one on the bottom.

I didnt drain the radiator like the manual says..i was in to much of a hurry at the get go....so you shouldnt have to deal with that.

Dont drop your bolts! I know everyone does this from time to time, but dropping them with this project isn't fun. Their going to go down into your engine bay, plinko style and you have to get them out by some ghetto way....you also run the risk of dropping them into your timing belt cover..which creates a whole another headache.

Make sure you remember where the bolts go on the water pump..
What I did was I layed the new water pump on the ground just as it was sitting in the car, as I took the bolts off I put them into the holes exactly like the original was. Once the old pump was off, I just transfered the new bolts into the old one, making sure I remember where each one went. ..their all different lengths/sizes, etc...so getting them mixed up costs you more time... Most are 10mm.

Water pumps + snow + inexperience with water pumps, dont mix..Im writing a book titled "Fuck you, and your water pumps, Honda".

So what started out as a stroll to finish it in 3 hours, turned into a 10 hour project after dropping bolts, cussing and just trying to figure out the easiest way to get it out of there!

Now the test.....will it hold? I didnt use any RTV sealant...

Now to only fix the alt belt..its letting off some nice smoke..does that mean its to tight or to loose?

Anything else I should check tommorrow?

Nate.

**dXsquared** · 01-28-2003, 10:20 PM

umm...it could be both... dragging or slipping... you will have to figure that out on your own

Travis

**Chubs87Accord** · 01-28-2003, 11:59 PM

:lol sorry, i just imagined you in one of those big one piece black puffy snow suits with your legs stickin out from under the car and hearing ::plink-plunk:: 'AHH SON OF A-" :lol oh and.. you gonna eat that? jp, lol

**shepherd79** · 01-29-2003, 04:45 AM

nate it is probably too lose. use your finger, stop the engine, and check the play on the belt. it should have like .5" movement.

**OldSchoolSwap** · 01-29-2003, 07:52 AM

all i can say is.................bbbwwwwwwwwwwaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa hhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa!!!! !!!!!! :lol

Glad i can help

**johndej** · 01-29-2003, 09:26 AM

ahh, sounds like a pain in the ass nate. i'm glad that the guy who owned our accord had replaced the water pump before he sold it. oh well, you picked a hell of a day to get it done.

**DBMaster** · 01-29-2003, 11:15 AM

I had to replace the pump without the timing cover off once because I used an aftermarket pump and the bearing went bad after only 18,000 miles. There was a post a while back about using two nuts tightened together to get that damned threaded rod out of the block. Otherwise you actually have to pry on the timing cover to make enough clearance.

I know its too late now, but I learned the hard way that it is best to stick with the factory Honda pump. Make sure your water pump pulley is "true" (no wobbles). The Honda pump bearing can take it, but aftermarket pumps cannot.

**86accord4dr** · 01-29-2003, 05:16 PM

working outside in 6" of snow in a snow suit for 10 hours straight..no stops, no drink breaks to stare at the progress

now THAT my friends is a true Honda enthusiast... and yeah what Chubs said about the snow suit... OMG i litterally laffed out loud. i was thinking the same way... i don't know if you guys watch it but there's a movie around x-mas called "a christmas story" or some shit... y'know the one where the kid wants a red rider BB gun? remember his little brother when his mom dresses him up in that one piece snow suit and he can't barely move?

Omg... thanks for that you guys... i was having a rough week again and you cheered me up...

nate, you should make a video of your water pump hilarity... i'll host it on my server for nothing if you want to post it... that would be the shit...