DIY Water pump replacement?
 

Has anyone attempted this? I feel I have the skill to do this myself but any tips would be appreciated. If you have a DIY vid for the VQ35HR I certainly would appreciate it. I realize it's a timing chain driven pump and what it's going to take but any pointers would help.

Thanks in advance

Just download the G35 service manual and follow the step by step instructions.

Thank you very much!

What's the story behind this? Your water pump is shot?

10-4 I lifted her up and can see the drip from the weep hole under the block. Pretty sure the seal is leaking inside. I have to fill her up about a gallon every three days.

Same thing happened to my 95 Maxima back in the day. Coolant leaking from weep hole. I'm sure the water pump was fine but the seals weren't. Replaced the water pump and put in a new timing chain tensioner. Not fun but certainly doable.

This is super concerning! Props to OP to have the confidence to knock it out. Can I ask what mileage you're at? I got the impression that this motor w/the timing chain etc was pretty much maintenance free beyond regular oil/filer changes, plugs every 105k miles, and regular upkeep within the average lifespan of the vehicle. That's what the service manual indicates too. Gosh dangit.

116k and tell me about it... It was a little disheartening, especially after I watched a DIY on looks like a solid 2 day job. :/

Well 2 days later and I finally got to the damn thing LOL.....

https://g35driver.com/forums/members...ment-54589.jpg

Ok well getting her back together I have come to the conclusion that it's probably worth the 1400 bucks to take it in to a dealership....

Its not necessary to remove TC cover for water pump replacement.

TC has removable access covers for that very purpose.

Haven't checked service manual lately but all you needed to do was:

Drain Coolant.

Remove access plates on TC cover

Slightly rotate crankshaft clockwise to take slack out of chain

remove oil tensioner.

rotate crankshaft counter clockwise to take slack out of chain.

Remove water pump fasteners.

Use 8mm bolts to jack pump out.

Drain oil and remove lower oil pan (this can also be done before removing pump to prevent mixing coolant & oil )

Replace Pump O rings and reinstall in reverse order.

I have sucessfully performed water pump O ring replacement without removing TC covers

Just throwing this out there but are we sure the timing cover doesn't need to come off on our V36 sedans with the vq35hr? It appears the previous posts are referring to the prior gen vq35de's. I wouldn't think they'd be much different but who knows.

engine design is similar, so I'm sure that procedure is quite the same. Engine does contain same amount of covers in the front.

No water pump cover on VQ35HR engine. Only on VQ35DE

Trust me when I tell you I wouldn't have removed that TC cover if there had been a removable cover for the water pump... The DE has removable covers the HR does not....

well that's stupid of Nissan to do.

I couldn't agree more... I watched that video you posted then decided to dive in. When I realized the genius plates had been taken out of the TC I was already 60% in so I said ****
it I'll just get her done. I ended up having to do a lot more than anticipated.

SHE'S ALLLLLIVE!!!! Thanks for all the support guys!

alllright! :CHEERS:

Support for all us semi-high milers that hope to run her into the ground! Thanks for that future DIY vid....

How to remove the crank pulley??
 

Ok, I'm reviving an old thread. I'm 90% into the teardown (replacing pulleys and likely the tensioner and chain guides while I'm in there), but the crank pulley may be the limiting factor here. I have a 1/2 inch impact wrench, but the only way I can get it in there is to remove the radiator/ac condenser. Did you find another way to do this? Also, how did you get just the front of the water inlet out? When I pulled on mine it came out of the seal under the intake manifold (more work!). In fact I'm pretty sure I'm gonna have to remove the rad just to get it out of the way to remove this pipe unless I can separate them. Of course, I still have to remove the intake to do the seal.

BTW, mine is an '07 Journey with 175k miles on it.

Did you have any success here? Was just quoted 2500 dollars to do this. Im not spending that for a car with 190k on it.

Yes. It's not a bad job. You do need a big breaker bar (I bought a 3' one) and a large chain wrench wrapped around the pulley. Plan on a couple of days taking your time. Get the Haynes manual and use it as a guide. Make sure to line up the timing and keep it lined up. I could probably do it in 8 hours now. And mine had about 185,000 miles on it and still runs strong. Worth doing. While you're in there you may as well replace tensioners and guides.

Tom

Do you remove the front bumper and radiator etc.

No, it's not necessary. There are a lot bolts on the timing cover so use something to keep track of where they go (various lengths).

Grateful
 

legit thank you so much!! I can NOT find a good video anywhere for the vq35hr’s but this gives me more confidence on being able to do it myself.