Water pump replacement on 88 Plusar NX SE CA18DE

SuperTech · Dec 19th, 2004, 01:49 PM

I seem to have a leaking water pump on our 88 Pulsar NX SE .
CA18DE 1.8L engine.
Nissan quoted 5.3hrs @ $85 us . Yikes . Factory manual made it seem not so tough but they left out a LOT of stuff !
I have the outer belts off , the crankshaft pully and the 5 bolts holding the lower timing belt cover . The water pump pulley is off.
The two bolts holding a bracket for the power steering pump and are two of the 5 holding the water pump are also off.
The radiator is drained but I can't seem to find the plug on the engine to drain the coolant . The manual mentions it, but the picture given does not help me . How hard is it to find a plug ...lol. ??
The bottom timming belt cover is loose but will not disengage from the upper timing belt cover . Am I missing something , or does it also have to come out . Any other suggestions ? I checked the manual re timing belt removal /replacement and it seems inane to have to do all that to replace a waterpump.

PS I crosspostd this in the CA engine forum, but this one seems more active .

greenbean699 · Dec 19th, 2004, 06:48 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by SuperTech

I seem to have a leaking water pump on our 88 Pulsar NX SE .
CA18DE 1.8L engine.
Nissan quoted 5.3hrs @ $85 us . Yikes . Factory manual made it seem not so tough but they left out a LOT of stuff !
I have the outer belts off , the crankshaft pully and the 5 bolts holding the lower timing belt cover . The water pump pulley is off.
The two bolts holding a bracket for the power steering pump and are two of the 5 holding the water pump are also off.
The radiator is drained but I can't seem to find the plug on the engine to drain the coolant . The manual mentions it, but the picture given does not help me . How hard is it to find a plug ...lol. ??
The bottom timming belt cover is loose but will not disengage from the upper timing belt cover . Am I missing something , or does it also have to come out . Any other suggestions ? I checked the manual re timing belt removal /replacement and it seems inane to have to do all that to replace a waterpump.

PS I crosspostd this in the CA engine forum, but this one seems more active .

I willl tell you right now it is not fun. You will have to jack the enginge up and take off the upper left engine mount and then you can take off the upper timing belt cover. The upper holds the lower in place. I did not have to drain the fluid out of my block. And make sure you get the timing back in right. Mine moved on me, but it is not hard. Oh..and you will have to take the belt tentsioner off too. This piece gave me some trouble. For any reason you bend your spring to the tentsioner, i have found that one off a e16s is the same. Oh and have fun putting the timing belt back on!! Try the top first then bottom and then somehow on the the tentioner. Hope this helps.
I put this engine in the sentra of mine and did not put the pump on while i had it out and now i wish i did!!!
Question: Anyone know a good spot other then the factory spot to put a temp sending unit? I bought a Faze water temp guage and the sender they gave me does not fit in the factory spot.