The oddessy of my 1998 Grand Am has come to an end. This time it was the cooling system. The engine got hot when I got on I-85 last night, so I pulled over to let it cool. After that it was a sluggish start, but seemed to be OK until it started knocking heavily on I-385, so I pulled down the Stone Avenue ramp.

The car obviously had issues because smoke was coming out of the air conditioner vents, and the car was not turning over well at all.  I got it to a parking lot where I left it overnight to cool.  This morning I got “click,” “Whine,” and nothing. It won’t turn over at all, so I figure the engine is seized.

Do I get ANOTHER engine and put it in, or do I contribute this piece of junk to Goodwill and get me another “work” car?  The engine would probably be cheaper, but do I want to go through all that again?

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How do you replace the water pump on a 1996 Pontiac Grand AM SE?

First answer by 64.91.96.166. Last edit by Scogod2003. Contributor trust: 45 [recommend contributor]. Question popularity: 93 [recommend question]
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If you have the 3100, V6 engine do the following: 1.. ON A COOL ENGINE, Drain the coolant by opening the coolant reservoir cap and opening the drain cock located on the lower drivers side radiator tank. 2. Disconnect the radiator hose on the water pump. 3. Remove the serpentine belt with a belt tensioner tool. The belt tensioner is a spring loaded pulley located below the alternator. You can rent the tool from most auto parts stores such as Checker�s or Autozone. Insert the tool in the notch on the arm of the tensioner and push it back towards the firewall. Once there is slack in the belt, you can slip it off the alternator pulley. Then slowly release the tensioner. Leave the tool in place for reinstallation of the belt later. NOTE: The decal for the belt routing is located on the passenger�s front strut tower. Use it for reference if necessary. 4. Remove the 4 attaching bolts on the water pump pulley, and remove the pulley from the pump. 5. Remove the mounting bolts that hold the water pump in it�s housing. 6. Clean off the old gasket being careful not to gouge the gasket mounting surface. 7. Install the new water pump gasket, then install the water pump into the housing. 8 Clean the threads of the water pump mounting bolts and apply a small amount of a medium strength thread locking compound (such as Loctite# 246) to the first 3 threads of each bolt. Then install the bolts and tighten them evenly. 9. Clean the threads of the water pump pulley mounting bolts and apply a small amount of a medium strength thread locking compound (such as Loctite# 246) to the first 3 threads of each bolt. Then install the bolts and tighten them evenly. 10. Reconnect the radiator hose to the water pump 11. Reinstall the serpentine belt, following the routing decal mentioned earlier and using the belt tensioner tool. Remember to release the pressure on the belt tensioner slowly, then remove the belt tensioner tool. 12. Close the radiator drain cock opened in step 1. 13 Open the cooling system bleed screw. This is located on a metal pipe just behind and extending up from the water pump housing. 14 Add a 50/50 mix of coolant (Standard Ethelyne-glycol antifreeze or Dex-Cool) and distilled water until you get a bubble free flow of coolant from the bleed screw. Then tighten the bleed screw. Using this method should ensure you have the trapped air out of the cooling system. A NOTE ABOUT ANTIFREEZE: It is important that you use the same type of antifreeze or coolant that was in your cooling system previously. On new cars of this year GM used DexCool coolant and IT IS NOT COMPATIBLE with standard antifreeze/coolant. I won�t go into the argument as to which one is better, I will just say they don�t intermix. Standard Antifreeze is a yellow/green color and DexCool is orange. Using distilled water will help keep minerals and deposits from forming in you cooling system. Tap water contains minerals and salts that are detrimental to your cooling system.

At this point your are ready to fire the car up and check for leaks. Check the drain cock on the radiator, the radiator hose connection at the pump, the seal around the water pump, and the cooling system bleed screw. Also check the serpentine belt to ensure it is running straight and true.

If you have the 2.4 Liter, 4 cylinder engine, take it to a shop and have it done! This is not a job you want to tackle in your driveway or garage. Even seasoned mechanics cringe at this one!!

GOOD LUCK!

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