Caravan water pump replacement

I replaced a water pump on my 2004 Town and country last year, and if I remember correctly the pulley will slip over the hub of the water pump if you turn the pulley after removing the bolts. The hub on the pump is not round. Remove the pulleys bolts and you will see what I am talking about.

The problem I had on my 2004 was not having enough clearance to remove and replace the pump after removing all of the bolts. I finally got a reply from a mechanic, and he said to pry the engine to the left side by placing a pry bar between body and engine. moving the engine approx

WOW! The light just went on. I finally understand how the pulley will end up between the housing and the hub. Thank you. How did prying the engine work out for you? Does the engine move fairly easy with a big pry bar? Thanks again.

Ken

Didn't have much problem. I used a block of wood between a bolt head and the pry bar. Be careful not to let off on the pry bar pressure when putting the new pump back in, it may damage the impeller on the pump. Good Luck!

Had the same exact problem. Not enough clearance to take the pump out. If you didn't mention about prying the engine, this would have been a show stopper. Even with prying, it still was a headache to get the damn pump in or out. But after 3 hours of putzin around everything is good now. Our local Dodge dealer wanted $411.82 + tax. Water pump from Autozone was $39.00. Now for a beer or three.

Ooh - hopefully it isn't one of those typical aftermarket pumps that is known for failing after a year or two (lifetime warranty means only that they'll keep replacing it - you've still got to expend that labor - doesn't necessarily mean that they designed it to last very long).

actually one auto zone i know off is known for only given you 3 replacements then sending you out the door with your money back and telling you not to come back. hopefully they don't all act that way but they are known for miss boxing and miss labeling parts. and what's bad is they now own ALLDATA.

"Built too (damn) fast, Duralast!" lol

Actually that's the merciful thing for them to do - tough love. When the third alternator in 1-1/2 years crapped out on an Advance alternator I had put in a Cadillac I used to have, *I* insisted that they give me my money back. Went to NAPA and paid a little more for their rebuilt - never had a problem with that one.

yeah buddy back home put 3 in his sons camaro, first one bad bearing noise,