Cadillac Repair: changing water pump and distrubor, o reilly auto parts, cadillac fleetwood

Question
is it hard to cahnge the water pump and the distrubor on a '94 cadillac fleetwood.

Answer
Hi Steve,

      To change the water pump and distributor isn't too difficult for me. For a novice it might prove to be a challenge. There are some special tools that would be needed. For example the harmonic balancer needs to be removed so you need the remover and installer tools. The distributor cap has external torx screws that a semi-deep or deep socket would be needed. And should the seals be leaking for the timing cover to waterpump and front crankshaft those special seal installers would be needed. O'reilly auto parts and AutoZone have loaner tools so you won't have to buy everything.

     It would be best to get ahold of a good Cadillac shop manual for your car, go to autozone.com vehicle repair guides '95 corvette optispark distributor removal or subscribe to alldata.com for a 1 year subscription. That way you will know what needs to be done and how to use the tools and the torque specs. You will also know if you are up to the task. Auto zone doesn't have the Caddy for your year but the corvette also uses that engine that's why I suggested looking at the corvette section.

      I realize you will save quite a bit of money on labor if you do this yourself but it might be best to have your mechanic do the job if you have doubts or lack the tools. Bill