Q: Broke something replacing the water pump pulley. 1998 Cadillac Deville
My best friend was replacing the water pump pulley on my 98 Cadillac deville and with the pulley removal tool broke something off. What does the water pump pulley attach to because he said it was the camshaft but apparently you can only replace them with performance parts. Did he break something else or am I gonna have to put a performance cam in the deville? Thank you
My car has 75000 miles.
My car has an automatic transmission.
Hi there - the water pump on this engine (Northstar) is driven by a belt off of one of the camshafts, but it is not likely your friend was anywhere near the camshaft when removing the pulley. It is possible that he damaged the water pump housing if s/he was trying to remove the water pump pulley. The pulley is not a service part, being assembled with the water pump, and is normally replaced with the water pump. This is an unusual water pump and cooling system design, and only the 2 water pump housings are related parts, besides the belt tensioner, that are touched while servicing the water pump. There is a special tool involved to unscrew the water pump assembly from the housing. The drive belt pulley on the camshaft should not have been touched even if the drive belt for the water pump was replaced. A tensioner idler pulley is all that should have been loosened/removed for a belt replacement. Hope this helps explain what is involved with a water pump replacement.
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