After a thorough search, finally scored this nice VDP, 99K miles, minty. I knew I was in for something since these cars seem to aim at 100K for major work. As a result, I am replacing a seeping thermostat housing, water pump, accessory belt, tensioner, and pulleys. The rest of the parts should arrive today.

So far I have replaced the clock and installed a Bluetooth antenna receiver (the one recommended around here) with great results.

Some pics...

Al.

 

So got the pump out and the thermostat housing. Only goof is I took the bolt next to the housing off and expected the housing to come off. Finally found my goof after braking the housing off. It is quite brittle at this point. No hard done as new one is waiting to go on. I am not taking the throttle body off...

Some pics:




new on left, notice metal impeller

complete! no impeller parts in heater core!

Such a weird part...

lots of antifreeze left in the engine, had to blow it out.

 

Got most parts in, and along the way I took pictures. Once inside I look at the pictures and notice that the mating pipe to the thermostat housing is in sad shape! Man, have to take the housing out and the throttle body out and replace the supplemental add-on pipe. What a PITA! I hope the designer of the goofy setup is doing something unrelated to cars now.

Also, the Beck /Arnley water pump provided a steel gasket with rubber seals on one side and nothing on the side mating to the engine, so I had to run to the store for some Permatex Gray. Why not use a gasket that works on both sides? It was also slightly damaged from contact with the pump. Not too happy with the quality of parts lately from R.A. the "new" belt was dirty, the cabin air filter did not fit, the tensioner roller has a bit of play in it. If you all have a good place for quality parts, let me in on it.



this part should be metal!

 

Nice work. I recently had to do this and it was quite a straightforward job. My thermostat housing was leaking so I changed the water pump and belt at the same time. The only issue I had was with one of the water pump bolt rounding. Had to use bolt/nut extractor to get it opened and removed. Worked a treat though.

 

Glad to hear someone else was successful. Where did you get your water pump and did you have to use any sealer?

Thanks.

 

Good job;
As for your question about parts, the local O'Riley's here will price match R A.
Not just any E'bay price, but R A sells parts every day.

 

So the old pump had o-rings and the new one used a gasket. Funny the gasket used rubber only on one side. It also looks like the old water pump was leaking around the center section from looking at the corrosion on the al block mating surface. Mine was leaking some, but somebody had replaced the pump and the bolts were just loose. And it had mostly water because it was from FL but this will cause corrosion of the AL. Also check all that plumbing on the right side. Mine blew one of the little hoses. I replaced all of it and I had to buy OEM, as there is none other available. And it is a bitch to bleed the air out, there is a bleeder on top. If you don't, the coolant will not circulate because the pump is so high, no coolent will reach it without bleeding. Most cars you can fill it and start it to circulate it. So be careful. And if you do leak coolant on the road, it may not show up when the engine overheats because there may not be enough coolant circulation to hit the gage because the pump is not pumping. Mine was steaming but the gage showed OK yet it was very low on coolant. I had it towed. If I tried to drive it I would have burned up the engine.

 

Thanks for the advise, I will watch it. Yes, the pump gasket was inadequate, rubber seals on one side only, steel on the other. Go figure...a "do it over again job" just waiting to happen.

I am using Beck Arnley Euro coolant (and water pump), the Dexcool gelling up just scares me, it will definitely do in a heater core.

 

Did you change the transmission fluid? What about spark plugs?

 

Spark plugs I ordered, I have only started thinking about the tranny fluid. It is totally dry under the tranny and I am almost tempted to leave it for later, I need to read up on it. It is evident the car has had light use.

 

Tranny fluid and filter are almost mandatory service for our cars. Google ZF 6hp24 transmission

 

Read, study, and get busy with the transmission fluid, & filter.

Not all that hard, a lift makes it much easier, have done it with jack stands on my back, lot messier that way.

You can convert the transmission pan to metal, with the filter to fit.

That way a filter can be bought for $25, reuse the pan, with the heavy duty Ford gasket you bought last time.

Add the price of fluid, and your done

 

6HP26 and it is advised not to use sealant on the metal gasket. It's a crush gasket. Rubber edge of gasket goes towards the block.

Once the WP bolts are torqued down that seal is air tight.

 

Sorry to reply late. I got my water pump from a jag supplier here in the UK and it came with a metal gasket that worked fine.

 

ACDELCO 252800 {#89003363} Professional; Does Not Include Mount Bolts Info





$49.79

On both of mine
Add

 

Yes I had to also buy the bolts separately. But the metal gasket did come with the water pump I purchased.

 

Job finished. Some observations and a question, plus pics:

I flushed distilled water three times then i put the Euro coolant in it. I did see a bunch of stuff that looks like dandruff flakes or dry grits in the flush and still some floating in the coolant. It is not metal since it tends to float. Anyone seen this before? I plan to filter it out somehow.

The old plastic housing and pipe were decomposing, this might be a candidate for the "things to watch out for" sticky thread. See pic below.

Did confirm that the dealer did install a new compressor before selling me the car.

I also installed a Toyota OEM set of lug nuts, no more dreaded chrome covers.

The car did take a bunch of antifreeze after starting it, so as someone suggested, don't drive off until the engine is done "drinking" and has warmed up somewhat.

Lots of patience to get here and a magnetic retrieval tools a must

Don't forget the rubber O ring gasket, I almost did!

A good time to soak up extra oil out of the intake plenum.

Proper sequence of taking stuff on and putting it back on is a must...I learned.

Plastic dissolving by the AF...

Not sure what all these flakes floating around are.

Just one cover left to put on minus the two underneath
New suspension compressor, yippie!

 

Great pictures and really useful for other users. Yes I too drained the coolant when I changed mine and when I filled it back up it seemed to lose a lot by the next day. Just topped it up and bled the system again and it's not lost any coolant after that.

 

You might want to rebuild your old one for future use, there are a few places that sell the piston ring to fix them.

 

I assume that compressor is long gone, it was done before I got seriously interested in the car.

I do have an issue, I keep finding the top radiator hose puckered in like it got vacuum, this is after the car sits. If I open the coolant reservoir, it sucks air in and goes back to normal. I think my hoses are going to the right places?

See pics:

notice big hose collapsing in

here after opening reservoir...