I recently boought a 2004 cavalier with 108,000 miles on it. (2.2 ecotec)
Should I be worried about the water pump? Or do they last a long time?
A mechanic friend of mine said if it's not broke don't fix it. I think it has a timing chain, not a belt, right?

He also said it's not something he would be able to help me with, because he would need special tools.
Is it really something only the dealer should do? I'm just talking about the water pump alone.

Has anyone thought of how to change the water pump?

Like said don't fix it if it ain't broke. It's not impossible but they rarely go bad. If it does, there's an easy way to replace it from behind/underneath. There's a small plate on the left side of the timing cover with 4 bolts. Take that off and a special tool holds the gear and chain in place from the front while you pull the pump assembly out of the back with 4-5 bolts. Put new pump in, replace shroud and 3 bolts behind it, remove tool on front and replace cover plate. done.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edited Tuesday, April 07, 2015 5:02 AM


"In Oldskool we trust"

If you do the pump just replace the entire timing chain assembly while you're there since it's probably original. Then you don't need any special tools.




On the inside my car looks like a fighter jet.