oh well...

I just changed the radiator but I still saw water under car.

I took my camera and recorded what looks to be a pore that evolved into a crack of the coolant pump case (see movie here sorry for quality)

Now my question is this: any tips for removing the pump ? Haynes manual is mentioning something about lifting the engine with a special device that I don't have

Any other tips and tricks are welcome.

Cheers

hi,jack up car and take drivers side wheel off look on the inner wing for a rubber grommit right where the engine mount bolt is and remove it nexta block of wood between a trolly jack and the sump to take the waight of the engine,remove the alt,water pump belt,remove the mount bolt and all the water pump bolts and remove water pump.

1) is the oil sump so sturdy to hold the engine weight without squashing ?

2) is there any 'miracle' resin or such for easy fixing the crack ? no corn flakes put in coolant please.

By coincidence, i have replaced the water pump on my felicia this month and it is the first time i do this job.

It is a tricky job but i managed to do it in a perfect way. By the way, the pore you mentioned is there from the begining, even if you buy a new pump, you will find it. One can tell that the water pump seal has gone through water dripping from that pore. In your movie i think the seal and bearing are gone badly. Follow my steps and tell me what happens with you.

My language structure is not so good because i am not an english speaker.

1. disconnect the car battery since you will need to remove the alternator and its wires.

2. Since the radiator is new, you need only to flush the engine block from scales and sludge that accumulated over the years. You can do this using a garden hose. You need to remove the hoses going into the radiator from the thermostat housing and the expansion tank and the lower one that goes to the metal pipe underneath the oil sump and into the pump.

3. Insert the garden hose into the lower hose and turn on the water, the water will come out from the thermostat housing big hose. Stop when the water comes out clear.

4. Drain the engine block from the remaining water by undoing the bolt in the pipe beneath the oil sump.

5. Remove the alternator and belt. I prefered to renew the belt because of the spilled water.

5. Jack up the car.

6. Using a trolly jack and a wood block, support the engine with the jack. You can support the engine at the point between the oil sump and the gearbox block, this is just below the flywheel housing.

7. Undo and remove the big bolt and nut going throug the center of the engine rubber mount which is integrated in the water pump body.

8. Undo and remove the short hose that goes up into the water pump.

9. For good control and to ease the job, remove the engine mount bracket that links the water pump to the car body, this can be done by undoing three bolts from beneath the car. ( I recommend this step althoug refitting it is somehow tricky ).

10.Also i recommend you undo the lower engine mount; the one that holds the gearbox and differential to the car underbody near the gear lever linkages. Undo the front bolt not the rear bolt. This will ease lifting the engine upwards.

11.Now the engine will be free to move up. Carefully jack up the engine slowly until all the nuts of the water pump are reachable. Undo them and pull out the pump.

12.Clean all the old gasket residues, apply thin layers of any heat resistant gasket maker to the new gasket supplied with the pump and to the mating surfaces of the engine head and water pump.

13.Now place the new gasket in the right orientation on the engine head and then put the water pump.

14.Tighten the four nuts diagonnaly to the right torque or equally if no torque wrench is available.

15.Lower the engine slowly and carefully until the engine rubber mount center eye is aligned with the hole in the inner wing.

16.Refit the engine mount bracket.

17.Place the big bolt through the inner wing hole and into the rubber mount eye. It sometimes need jerking of the engine slowly until it is through, tighten the nut to the specified torque.

18.Tighten the bolt and nut of the lower engine mount to the specified torque.

19.Refit all the hoses to and from the water pump, radiator, thermostat housing, and expansion tank.

20.Refit the alternator and its wires without tightening.

21.Place the new belt and push out the alternator using a wood lever until the belts' longest stretch (between the alternator and water pump pulleys) centerpoint can travel upwards or downwards by hand (without excessive force) around 1 cm (Best tension if you do not have a tension meter).

22.Refill the water system with Distilled water and engine coolant (G11 grade according to skoda). I recommed 60% water and 40% coolant.

23.Check for water leaks around the hoses ends.

24.Connect the battery and run the engine with the expansion tank cap removed until all the air pockets in the water cycle are out. make sure that the radiator fan starts after the thermostat is fully open when the water temp rises to the correct temperature and watch the water moving in the expansion tank.

25.Turn off the engine and recheck the water level again after the engine cools down.

I hope this will help you.

thank you very much for this extensive repair guide. it is very much appreciated. I will get back when done.

P.S. do you have a photo of the old pump ? I would like to see up close that little hole (pore) you said it is specially made by manufacturers.

Edited 27 June, 201115 yr by masster

Hi, i have a brand new water pump and i kept the old one. Here are some pictures and you can see the little hole on both of them. Good luck on your job.

The old pump, you can see the damage caused by the water

The new pump

thank you for the photos. very informative.

I bought the pump and tomorrow I will go to borrow a sturdy jack and a torque wrench and I am in business.

Edited 29 June, 201115 yr by masster

Hello Masster,

Please update everybody what happened with you regarding the pump. any advice from you regarding this task will help all briskodians.

Cheers

I will make an extensive review, but right now I am in the middle of putting back all parts and preparing for changing the timing chain, oil sump, oil and oil filter.

here we go:

first of all let's talk about tools and devices. in order to do a fast, easy, reliable job, you should think about having these items:

- an engine support device like the one below. it makes a huge difference compared to a rolling hydraulic jack. not to mention a higher degree of control when it comes to attaching the pump to the engine mount. you can use it also for gearbox and clutch jobs.

- long extensions for socket wrench to reach those 3 engine mount bolts from below

- a gasket scraper made of hard plastic for scraping the old gasket which will be almost welded to the engine block for sure

do not forget about having at hand:

- some WD40 for those stubborn rusty nuts (you don't want to break any of the 4 water pump mounting studs sticking out of the engine block)

- a good cleaning spray for cleaning any gasket remains. I used brakes cleaning fluid and got a mirror fininsh

- some high temperature resisting 2+2 red rtv silicone instant gasket for a perfect seal. read instructions carefully.

- a suitable torque wrench for tightening water pump nuts according to specifications. by suitable I mean small, there are tight spaces in there. I have a very reliable 1/4" 6-30 Nm Proxxon torque wrench which didn't fit in there. I had to trust my hand: not too loose and not to squeeze blood from those nuts

TIPS:

- it is a good practice to mark the engine mount bracket position in relation to car chassis before removing it

- don't fully tighten the engine mount bracket when you have to mate it with the water pump body. it will help a lot to jiggle the bracket instead of jiggle the engine

- don't rush the old gasket scraping process. be methodical and thorough and you will have a water tight seal

other than that... drive carefully.

Edited 31 July, 201114 yr by masster

Thank you raedalbandak for that tutorial, really helped a lot, since I had no idea how to get the pump off.

10.Also i recommend you undo the lower engine mount; the one that holds the gearbox and differential to the car underbody near the gear lever linkages. Undo the front bolt not the rear bolt. This will ease lifting the engine upwards.

I would add that this step is necessary, or at least it was in my case as the engine didnt want to go high enough to get the pump off.