Chrysler Repair: water pump, 3.0 V-6, crank pulley, postal mail


Question
How hard is it to change a waterpump on a 1993 Chrysler Labaron 6 cylinder?  Is it worth paying someone $180.00 to do this?

Answer
Hi Kim,
The job is not trivial because you have to remove the timing belt to get to the waterpump. That involves supporting the engine from below with a floor jack, separating the engine mount, removing the crank pulley, and then the belt before you get to the water pump. While this is being done, assuming that the water pump is leaking, it is the ideal time to replace the timing belt because those are usually replaced at 100,000 miles of running, so unless yours was done in the past 50,000 miles it would be just a matter of paying for a new timing belt to get that done at the same time. So check with the mechanic to see if the combo of timing belt and water pump would be $180 plus the parts. If so, I would go for it unless you are really into this sort work. Is the mechanic knowledgeable, does he/she have a shop manual? I can provide the pages from the shop manual that describe the job an 10 cents per side copy and postal mail them to you.
Roland