Replaced the engine water pump on spec, eg 192,000 miles on it.

Found it very difficult to get out. You have to pull precisely straight out or it will jam... which it did for me. The lack of clearance around this makes a straight pull out impossible.

You'll probably have to pull the pax side under-shield to be able to walk it out from the top & bottom. Still ended up using a prybar.

Along the way broke off all three mounting bolt tabs.

Tried a fit-up of the replacement pump and it went in quite easy. Mic'd the OEM Pump = 2.110". The replacement pump was 2.035". Don't need a lot to make things easier. Find it curious that the OEM pump was so tight a fit. Also put a dab of anti-seize on the outer diameter for next time.

 

Just had mine replaced on an '09 feh because it was leaking. 120,000km = 74,000miles. Seems a little early for this failure. It was done by a mechanic who reported no problem with the job.

 

Having done it once, I learned some things. So if I were a mechanic who has done it a number of times I'd probably not have any problems to report. For example, I'd remove the bottom fairing and get access to the underside of the pump at the beginning. I've removed a similar design pump on my Mustang, no sweat. Thought this one would come out similarly. Not so fast...

Using the tabs to walk out the pump will help. Knowing they can be broken off (a surprise when it happened) I'd use some thinner items to wedge it out a little at a time.

In the end, having done the fitup of the replacement pump I don't expect it to be nearly as difficult to get out. Since the replacement pump was slightly smaller diameter than OEM it'll have a bit more ability to wobble the pump out. Plus I put a dab of anti-seize compound on the body. So... in another 150,000 miles or so I'll let you know how it went!

Oh yeah... do it with the engine warm so the o-ring is more flexible. Noted the engine cools down quickly. I had used the block heater to warm it up. Stable temp was about 104ºF long term. Once I unplugged the block heater it dropped to 85ºF within say 10 minutes or so.