My water pump went out yesterday 2nd one now. I am changing this one myself, the first was under warranty. I found some great info on this site and it looks fairly straight forward. Question; I had my radiator flushed at 100K service. I am now at 129,000. I don't want to drain my whole radiator only what it takes to change the pump. How much HOAT radiator fluid should I plan on buying?? What should I plan on using to catch the fluid? Would an empty 5 gallon bucket be enough? Also should I do the T-stat at the same time? I have had no sign that the t-stat is bad. I don't really want to spend money now that I don't have too. Advice??
Thanks in advance to all and the excellent info found on this forum is awsome!

 

If your system was just flushed 29k miles ago you can reuse the coolant. just make sure to catch it in a CLEAN pan/bucket.
If the t-stat was not replaced before, now would be a good time. As long as you have the system open might as well do some PREVENTATIVE maintenance. How about the serpentine belt? Has that been done? If not, do it now as well and keep the old one in the truck for a spare.

 

Thanks rockcrawler, I'll be headed to the autostore and I'll pick up a t-stat. Serpentine belt was done at 100k. Good idea on the reuse of coolant. I have been looking at it and it still looks new.

 

Leave the thermostat out until you fill with the coolant and it starts to come out of the hole for the thermostat. This will make sure that you get all the coolant back in and not have any air trapped in the engine.

 

I will do that, thanks for the great tip Papa duck!

 

Thought I would update. Got the water pump and t-stat changed out. Both very easy to do except for that serpentine belt sure is pain to put back on. If any one feels motivated to post a "easy how to" replace a serp belt I'm sure it would be of great help to alot of us. I think it would have been easier with two people but I didn't have that option.
Thanks agian to all of you for the help and advice. Truck is leak free and runs great.

 

when i replaced my belt i struggled a bit too. learned real quick though.

i found getting a long handled ratchet or bar on the tensioner allows you to prop the handle against something so as to not allow it snap back tight. keeping it propped in the loose position really made it easier to route the pulleys and then just put it around the tensioner loosely and release the propped bar/ratchet. also keep in mind that smooth sides mate with smooth sides, and ribbed only with ribbed pulley's!

 

Great news!

I did this too and also loosened the tensioner mounting bolt to allow it to lean away from the engine a little extra.

 

Ha! yes I did this with a extended bar, but the only thing I could find to prop it agianst was the side of my face . Painful, but it allowed me the use of two hands. I'm sure it woulda made a good pic.