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Replacing Water Pump: Pulley Bolts Seized

Discussion in 'Gen 2 Prius Care, Maintenance and Troubleshooting' started by SFPrius2006, Aug 13, 2018.

  1. SFPrius2006

    SFPrius2006 New Member

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    Hi all, can anyone help on this?

    I'm attempting to replace the water pump on my 2006 Prius (~110k miles)

    I'm following the steps in this video:


    and this video. I'm at the step where I remove the water pump pulley.


    However, the bolts on the pulley have seized up and won't budge. What's worse is that the pulley itself is spinning so I can't apply much torque to force the bolts to turn.

    I've applied two rounds of WD40 onto the bolts - one last night and one this morning. They're still not rotating.

    Any advice on how to get these bolts off? Is there a better penetrant that will loosen the bolts? I'm trying to avoid going to a mechanic and paying $300-400 just for the labor on this when I'm so close to getting the job done. 20180812_190943.jpg

    Attaching a picture of the bolts and the pulley.
     
  2. JC91006

    JC91006 Senior Member

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    stick a large screwdriver in the pulley holes so it'll stay while you remove the bolts. It looks pretty well lubed, where you won't be able to grip it.
     
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  3. Raytheeagle

    Raytheeagle Senior Member

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    Welcome to Prius Chat (y).

    Some questions:
    • How many miles on your Prius?
    • Changing the pump based on mileage, or was there a leak?
    • Have you tried percussive Force to break the torque on the bolts?
    Good luck and keep us posted (y).
     
  4. JC91006

    JC91006 Senior Member

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    Probably leaking, the picture shows lots of crusty pink stuff on it.
     
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  5. Raytheeagle

    Raytheeagle Senior Member

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    My eye sight must be fading as I don’t see the pink crusty mass:cool:.

    Looks like a lot of PB blaster overspray to me so hard to tell.
     
  6. SFPrius2006

    SFPrius2006 New Member

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    I've got around 110k on my Prius.

    \The water pump has some pink residue on the outside so it has leaked at some point in the past. There is no major leak at present. I'm changing the pump and the belt, which is very cracked and will soon fail.

    I tried placing a wrench on the bolt and then tapping against the wrench, but it hasn't been effective. I've been approaching the pulley and bolts from above to avoid going under the car, so there is not much room to maneuver the tools. Certainly, there is no room to apply an impact wrench.
     
  7. SFPrius2006

    SFPrius2006 New Member

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    Yes, most of the pink crust is blocked by the pulley in this picture.
     
  8. SFPrius2006

    SFPrius2006 New Member

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    Most of the pink crusty mass is behind the pulley in this picture. The picture was taken from above looking down into the engine bay, so the leakage residue is away from the camera behind the pulley.

    I've applied maybe 7 rounds of WD40 by now and it still won't budge.

    Next steps:
    I think I'll have to bite the bullet and go under the car and remove the engine under covers to access the pulley and bolts from below.

    I plan to use a long screwdriver to hold the pulley in place while I try to force the bolts to turn. (I may have enough room to place a wrench and use a hammer to tap on the wrench.)
     
  9. JC91006

    JC91006 Senior Member

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    See crusty stuff Screenshot_2018-08-14-12-15-15-1.jpeg
     
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  10. edthefox5

    edthefox5 Senior Member

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    Spraying wd40 on top of a bolt does nothing except stink the whole area up. Ok so you have no clue here. Get some choke cleaner and hose that crap off and clean it all up.

    Jam a bar in it like JC says to trap it from turning and get a breaker bar with an extension bar. I use a 3/4 inch piece of emt tubing from lowes cut to various lengths to fit over breaker bars. It extends the bar and exponentially increases you turning torque.Clean that bolt heads off till its squeaky clean use the right size socket a quality socket not a pos harbor freight and it will come right off.

    If its really on there I use freeze spray on the bolt heads let it sit and it comes right off.
     
  11. edthefox5

    edthefox5 Senior Member

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    Oh and based on your photoshop your turning the bolts the wrong way to remove them. It’s left loosey your arrows indicate your turning the wrench clockwise. Clockwise will tighten the bolts not loosen them.
     
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  12. ITBland

    ITBland Active Member

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    Good catch!:notworthy::notworthy:
     
  13. Patrick Wong

    Patrick Wong DIY Enthusiast

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    For future reference, it would be much better to loosen the pulley bolts while the serpentine belt remains installed, to help brake the pulley rotation.

    If inserting a screwdriver into a pulley hole doesn’t work, another possibility might be to make a tool by attaching two bolts to a lever, spaced so that the bolts will fit into two pulley holes.
     
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  14. SFPrius2006

    SFPrius2006 New Member

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    Hi all,

    So I ended up removing the engine under cover (RH) which gave me access to the water pump pulley from below.

    Then, I was able to stick a screwdriver into the pulley holes and hold it still while I turned the pulley bolts. Once I had the screwdriver to apply resistance, it wasn't too difficult to turn the bolts.
    20180814_132148.jpg
    After that, it was fairly standard procedure to replace the pump (see below).

    Steps for replacement and coolant bleeding after loosening bolts.
    - Removed the 3 bolts and 2 nuts holding the water pump in place
    - Used a oil pan beneath the car to collect coolant after I separated the pump from the engine
    - Removed the old water pump and gasket
    - Cleaned off attachment point for water pump with a scouring pad

    - Placed new gasket and water pump in place
    - Torqued down the water pump bolts (8 ft lbs)

    - Reattached the water pump pulley
    - Torqued down the pulley bolts (11 ft lbs)

    - Reattached the idler pulley
    - Installed a new generator V belt
    - Tensioned the generator V belt
    - Torqued down the idler pulley (30 ft lbs)

    Adding and bleeding coolant:
    - Opened radiator cap
    - Opened radiator bleed valve
    - Filled radiator with coolant until bleed valve released coolant
    - Did the "chicken dance" to get car running in maintenance mode for about 10 minutes
    - Added coolant as the engine ran
    - Turned off engine
    - Closed radiator cap and bleed valve

    Then, I reattached the bodywork I removed to access the radiator and the water pump pulley (engine under cover RH, center engine under cover, front spoiler cover, front bumper cover). I have all the bodywork reinstalled except the center engine under cover, which I'll do tomorrow. I plan try to add more coolant tomorrow, test drive the car, let it cool, and try adding more coolant again.

    I think that's about all the steps. Please LMK if I missed anything.

    PS. I have another question about how much to adjust the idler pulley to tension the generator V belt. I don't have a belt tension gauge, so I'm going to ask for advice on how to get the right tension in that new thread.
     
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  15. SFPrius2006

    SFPrius2006 New Member

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    Good idea. If I ever have to work on the pump assembly again, I'll give that a try.
     
  16. SFPrius2006

    SFPrius2006 New Member

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  17. Patrick Wong

    Patrick Wong DIY Enthusiast

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    Wow, a nasty photo, that old coolant pump desperately needed to be changed.

    Regarding the belt tension, exert 22 pounds of pressure with your finger at the center of the belt between the pulleys. You are looking for 0.5" deflection on a used belt (which the new belt has become after five minutes of use).

    Make sure the cabin heater works and that you do not hear air bubbling in the heater core. If you notice that air remains in the system, rev up the engine 10-15 minutes at full speed (which is only around 3K RPM) while the gear selector is in P, and the car is sitting on the driveway.

    If you had drained coolant via the CHRS canister drain, you will need to fill up the CHRS canister by manually activating the CHS relay.
     
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  18. edthefox5

    edthefox5 Senior Member

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    That’s a car that’s never seen a coolant change.

    Since you now have access best and fastest way to disassemble anything is with an impact gun.

    I have both a 20 volt and a 1/2 drive electric impact.Both dewalt. The 1/2 is a beast and takes very little push of the button to get a bolt off. Use an impact socket not a harbor freight China pos socket which tend to explode under high load. So much easier and quicker and easy on your knuckles and no wd40 necessary.

    Just don’t use them to put nuts they can snap the bolt head right off.
     
  19. JC91006

    JC91006 Senior Member

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    Wow, I didn't know it can look like that under the pulley. That pulley serves as a band aid to hide the severity of the leak
     
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  20. SFPrius2006

    SFPrius2006 New Member

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    Thanks Patrick. I also looked at the shop manual again and it explained exactly that test. I'll check the belt once my car cools down.

    This morning before driving, I checked the radiator and it was still filled almost to the top of the fill tube with coolant. Drove the car across town and back on an errand and didn't get any warnings. Also didn't hear any strange sounds such as gurgling while I drove. I think I got almost all the air out of the system yesterday during the bleed.
     
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