I recently helped my sister-in-law by replacing the leaking water pump in her 1998 Dodge Intrepid with the 2.7L engine. It’s a terribly designed engine in that when the water pump shaft seal goes (as they are prone to do), the leak dumps coolant into the crankcase and fouls the oil. Chrysler seams to think that a simple weep hole is sufficient to catch any leakage and dump it outside, but, I’ve read too many stories about that being inadequate. BTW — the weep hole location is on the left side of the engine block, near the front, about half way up the block. It’s easiest to locate when looking from underneath the car.
The following is not meant to be a complete step-by-step on how to do the job. I intend it to be informational with things that I learned along the way that might help others. I would not attempt this without some kind of service manual(s). I have omitted many important details that are covered in a service manual (like torque procedures). If nothing else, after reading this you should get a good sense for the amount of work involved and why a mechanic is going to charge you north of $500 in labor to do the job.
Tools that you absolutely must have that might not be in the average tool box:
- 12 mm allen wrench
- 3/8″ breaker bar — for cam shaft positioning. DO NOT use a socket ratchet!
- 3-jaw puller
- Set of Torx bits (for the coil-over-plug removal)
- Torque wrench (duh!)
Recommend, but, I managed without them:
- Chain style locking “pliers” to hold crankshaft pulley when removing/installing crankshaft pulley bolt.
- Crankshaft pulley installer
Enough lead in, let’s get started with the tear down:
- Remove the intake Plenum — Disconnect all wires and hoses to the plenum, including the EGR tube. Disconnect the throttle cable(s). Unbolt and remove the plenum with the throttle body attached. Stuff rags into the intake ports to prevent anything from getting dropped in. Use a couple of zip ties to hold the wire bundles over the center of the engine
Remove the valve covers — Remove the coil-over-plug assemblies. I used a sharpened putty knife to carefully slip between the head and the cover to loosen it enough to pop it free without damaging the cover gasket. The cover gaskets are rubberized and reusable if care is taken.
- Remove the cross-member above the radiator.
- Drain the cooling system and remove the upper radiator hose.
- Remove the fan assembly.
- Remove the drive belts.
- Remove the power steering pump — There’s no need to disconnect any hoses or drain the system. It simply has to be pulled aside. Take note that there are only 3 bolts holding the pump in place and ALL of them are accessible with a socket wrench through the holes in the pump pulley. If you are struggling to get at one of the bolts, most likely the bolt is holding only the bracket and not the pump. The farthest inside bolt has a spacer that is pressed through the bracket and against the pump. This spacer needs to be pried away from the pump in order to free the pump enough to remove it from the bracket.
- Now that the pump is out of the way, all the power steering pump idler bracket bolts are a cinch to get at. Remove the bracket.
- Remove the bolt in the crankshaft holding the main pulley in place. If you don’t have a proper tool to hold the pulley, you can manage by using the tab at the bottom of the timing chain cover as a prop for a screwdriver through the pulley spoke.
- Remove the crankshaft pulley using a 3-jaw puller.
- Remove the timing chain cover.
- Remove the spark plugs to ease rotating the crankshaft.
- Rotate the crankshaft around until “colored” links of the timing chain are oriented with the respective sprockets as shown in the photo’s below. Additionally, align the crankshaft position with the arrow on the crank case (it’s actually the oil pump housing) on the left side of the engine. I found the “dark colored” links to be very difficult to see. Also note that from the factory, the timing chain marks on this engine were NOT lined up with the chain — they were all off by 6 teeth in every location (the photos below show the correct line-up used during assembly).
Note that the crank position does not look correct in this picture — partly due to the camera angle, and partly because it really is off by a little bit…
- With everything in alignment, remove the timing chain tensioner. Take note of the extension of the timing chain tensioner before removing it. This will be useful for gauging the wear of the cam chain later.
Remove all the timing chain guides. Note that this requires removing the large plugs in the front of the heads using a 12mm allen key. I did not have one and my local hardware store was conveniently out of stock when I needed it, so, I made one from a long coupling nut as shown on the right. The coupling nut was 1/2″ wrench size with a little work on the grinder reduce it down to make it ~12MM. No sir, I’m not too proud to admit any of this!
- Remove the cam shaft sprockets. Be warned: I had a problem with the cams not staying in the exact location once freed of the chain. Use caution when removing the bolts since the cams may spring violently once the sprocket bolts are removed (ask me why I know about this)! Use a 3/8″ ‘breaker bar’ that has a non-ratchet head so you can ease the spring pressure in either direction after removing the cam sprocket bolts. Do NOT hold the cam shaft with a standard 3/8″ ratchet since it can only apply torque in one direction!
Remove the cam chain enough to clear the water pump.
- Finally, the water pump can be removed. Once I got it free, I found that the gasket was disintegrating. The rubber material was literally crumbling into pieces upon removal. Arielle was very lucky that the gasket had not started leaking coolant into the crankcase.
- I urge you to drain the oil at this point since, undoubtedly, coolant dribbled down into the oil pan upon removing the water pump.
Inspection
Take a close look at the wear on the cam chain guides. Arielle’s engine had been replaced and we don’t know how many miles it has on it. The deepest wear on the worst cam chain guide was only ~0.020″ deep. We decided not to replace the guides.
Installation
Even after reading the procedure in the manual, one of the most confusing things to do was to “reset” the cam chain tensioner before installing it. There’s a special tool that might help you with this, but it is not really required. The trick is to release the check valve ball while compressing the tensioner so that the trapped oil can escape. I used a tiny allen wrench to apply a small amount of pressure on the ball while firmly applying compression to the tensioner body. It’s moderately tricky and you are not done until the tensioner wants to spring back on its own after being released from compression (see UPDATE in step 2). If it does not do this, the problem is most assuredly because it has yet to be compressed enough to fully drain the oil out. This is confusing because once all the oil is removed, it will actually “click” into a fully compressed state and not spring back. However after applying compression again, it should then spring back into the extended position. I’d be wary of using a vise for compression due to the difficult in gauging the force applied (it can easily be done by hand). It’s also very messy and the oils squirts all over — wear eye protection!
- UPDATE: after completely draining the oil from the tensioner (as called for in the service manual I was using), I think this later caused a problem — the timing chain would lose tension at idle when the oil was up to temp. So, I likely screwed something up (also, there was a commenter below that seams to have the same problem). My theory is that releasing the tensioner after installation fills it with air, and that air gets trapped, ruining the hydraulic lock that is probably needed at lower oil pressures during idle. Dennis, did the job and suggested only compressing the tensioner just enough to reinstall it, thus, leaving nearly all the oil in the tensioner. He reports this has worked great thus far. Thank you, Dennis, for reporting back on this.
- Install the water pump. Follow the torque procedure in the manual.
- Install the cam chain and cam shaft sprockets. Get the chain alignment with in a tooth or two, but, don’t sweat it just yet.
- Now the really fun part — aligning the cam chain to the sprockets while installing the guides. Start installing the cam chain guides one at a time. For better or worse, I started with the one on the right side of the engine (i.e. the side with the tensioner), then the two around the water pump, and finally the left side. I knew the crankshaft was very close to the correct position, so, I correctly aligned the right-side cam to the chain and found a spot that it would rest at without constantly holding the cam. After installing the guides around the water pump, it took a bit of cam positioning to get the chain aligned with the left-side cam shaft. This one did not want to stay in position on its own and I had to use the 3/8″ breaker bar (as mentioned above, do NOT use a normal 3/8″ ratchet for this!) to hold the cam in the correct position while also positioning the chain around the crank shaft sprocket and also installing the final guide on the left of the engine. It really helped to have an extra set of hands for this operation.
- Once the chain and sprockets are aligned, install the cam chain tensioner. Once installed, compress it with a small pry bar and it should spring out against the guide.
- I then took the opportunity to spin the crankshaft around by hand for several revolutions to make sure nothing clanged.
- Install the timing chain cover and torque appropriately.
- Install the crankshaft pulley. The correct way to do this is with a special tool that threads into the crankshaft and then pushes the pulley onto the shaft. I tried getting one from the local auto parts store, but, they didn’t have one with the correct threads for the crankshaft. Naturally, the bolt that holds the pulley on the crank is too short to be of any help for the task. I wound up heating the pulley in the oven to ~250 degrees and then tapped it onto the shaft using baby sledge hammer. Not exactly elegant, but I was out of options on a Sunday afternoon and had to proceed. Before you scream at me, remember that this is done in very cramped space and I could only get about a 3 inch swing of the hammer, so, there was no heavy pounding involved — even though it was a 3 lb hammer. I used a backing board against the radiator to prevent damaging it during the backward swing.
- The rest of the installation is the reverse of the the tear down.
- Don’t forget to connect the hood latch release cable when installing the radiator cross member — yeah, that was an “ohh sh!t” for me (managed to connect it in place, but, twas a pain).
- Also, don’t forget to refill all the fluids — engine oil (you did drain it, didn’t you!?!) and coolant.
When it’s time to start the engine the first time, be prepared for quite a racket until the oil pressure comes up — the cam chain tensioner needs to be “pumped up” with oil before it will hold the correct slack on the chain.
If you found this helpful, please leave a comment saying so. Enjoy!
Hey John Haynes says 17 ft. lbs on water pump have snapped 2 bolts allready do you know what the torque specs are
Issac on the all data it says 15 ft. lbs for the main bearing caps and 20 ft. lbs for the rod bearings and then both 1/4 turn after but when I just did mine i think the extra 1/4 turn was a bit much. But then again mine is still knocking after running for like 10 minutes on idle. Does any one know how to install the thrust washers properly? For some reason its not working right!
Great Info — Helped a lot Thanks! The only problem I have is 0 oil pressure at idle, I am getting 65 when cold and 35 -40 while driving but drops to 0 when idling and hot. I installed a new tensioner but didnt prime it first, seemed to pump up correctly when engine started but NO oil pressure. I removed it and reinstalled almost full of oil but it did not pump up and the chain rattled, removed it again, reset it and primed with oil, seems correct but still no oil pressure. engine has 30K miles and was full of sluge especially around tensioner. Engine runs perfect with no noises but has no oil pressure at idle when hot. Crank Journal #1 is on low side but still in spec and has some pitting. new bearings were installed and plasigaged to .0025 clearance.
I want to tell you Thank You for the good pictures and the good info, that water is pretty far away to reach in that kind of engine also if it can help the crankshaft bolt threads are 14 MM X 2.00 pitch i used a long bolt with many washers to install the damper.
Thanks again
Ben
Where is weep hole? We see inside picture of pump but can’t see weep hole. We are getting water on garage floor but can,t locate weep hole under car as described. Some water in oil once and a while. Oil is red from coolant. Suspect weep hole pluged. If we can locate may be we can un plug hole. I hope we have weep hole.
Appreciate your comments.
Well, I tried to direct email you, but, it bounced …
The weep hole (on the 1998 2.7L I worked on, anyway) is on the left side of the block as viewed from the drivers seat, a few inches from the front of the block, about half way between the oil-pan gasket and the head gasket.
It’s about 1/8″ in diameter.
If you’re getting coolant in the oil, cleaning the weep hole isn’t going to solve the water in the oil problem. I’d stop driving the car until I could get the pump changed…
Hi, John just recently researching the 2.7 engine. I have a 2000 chysler concorde with the 2.7 engine and it has 131,xxx miles on it. Im afraid with all these engine failure stories that my car may be ready to go. As of now it runs fine but the oil light was coming on in july due to low oil pressure during idle. A mechanic changed the oil switch and told me to put the car in nuetral and give it gas while in idle to keep the oil flow to the engine. I have been doing this for months and it is getting extremely annoying. Just wondering if you had any advice on how I can keep my car running and what oils i should use when changing? How often should i do a change? and anything else u would recommend in keeping my car maintained. Thanks you.
I Just lost water pump in my 2001 intrepid 2.7l and your procedure really helped 95% done thanks oh that oil pressure problem in previous post is wear thies pumps become inefective quickly with heavy wear..good luck
2002 2.7 V6 stratus.
What a terrible design for a mechanic. The 2.7 turned sideways in a stratus is packed way to tight.
Wa Wa!!!
It took me 10 hours to get to the water pump!
Anyway, the hydraulic cam chain tension-er appears to have had a metal ring on the outside that was broken. I actually found half of it under the tension-er cover. Any clue as to what this is? Can I install it without it? It looks like a ring to either stop tensioner from going to far in the hole or hold it in place???
what are the torque spec’s for the pump? Haynes says 17foot Lbs.
There are 6 small bolts & 2 large bolts.
Great “How To”. Getting ready to replace the pump and chains. One question though, you had the following statement: Use caution when removing the bolts since the cams may spring violently once the sprocket bolts are removed (ask me why I know about this)! Can you provide more information on this? Thanks.
When any valve that is partially opened, the valve springs want to rotate the cam into a position that lets the valve close. With the cam chain all lined up according to the marks, some of the valves are opened, and thus, the tension in the cam chain is holding torque on the cam. Removing the sprocket releases that torque, and if you don’t take precautions, it rotates freely into some neutral position and it does so with some force.
The better way to release the tension is to hold the cam shaft using a 3/8″ square drive on end of the cam shaft. However, it’s difficult to tell which direction the cam is going to spring. Thus, you need to use a solid breaker bar instead of a normal ratchet so you can hold the cam solidly and prevent it from rotating in either direction while remove the bolts. Then it’s a simple matter of gently allowing the cam to rotate into a neutral position by releasing the pressure with the breaker bar. This has the added advantage of letting you know *which* direction the cam has rotated away from the “lined up” position, eliminating guess work during reassembly time.
Hi John that was great DIY for the water pump. I’m in the middle of it right now. I found the colored marks on the chain but nothing lines up like what it says it would in the book. I have NOT removed the chain yet as i trying to figure the marks are in the right place. Timing chain replacement has never been done to it so its factory settings. Also my 2.7 V6 is positioned different than yours. I have a head in front and at the firewall. So i placed a screwdriver in the cylinder #1 and i see it come up and down but how can i tell if anything is lined up if none of the marks are lining up. Any chance of getting a help # 847-977-4124 ( Luis)
help would be great appreciated.
hey man great diy…. i need some help though… i just got done replacing the water pump and before i started it up i was filling it with antifreeze and it started pouring out of the weep hole again can you tell me whats going on????
i an wondering same as patricks comment above (” hey man great diy…. i need some help though… i just got done replacing the water pump and before i started it up i was filling it with antifreeze and it started pouring out of the weep hole again can you tell me whats going on???”) the reason i am wondering is because the new water pump came with a gasket that covers the entire housing and the old gasket actually goes in a groove and seals off the small passage that leads to the weep hole but the new seal does not seal off the small passage goin to the weep hole so im just wondering if this newly desined gasket is going to cause the fluid to leak from weep hole? Which sounds like the problem PARTICK is having wanting to know before i use the newly designed gasket and have the same problem that PATRICK is having does anyone know ?
it was perfect help no cut up knuckles,cut fingers, and most of all my wife thinks i am an expert now. She picked the wrong car. Oh it so pretty. Damm Or farm mule does better milage and less to maintane. I will not sell this car to nobody. It will be a sin. No body deserve such hardship. Thank y0u again.
Hi this reply is for whomever tried contacting me. The voice message was choppy and i barely heard anything clearly. Anyway, i bought a new pump from Napa. They sell both a remanufactured unit with a fibre gasket and the other is brand new and comes with a metal and rubber fused together. Get the metal with rubber. I had no leaks from the weep hole and my car now blows heat inside like crazy. So it went real good. As for the water coming out the weep hole as your adding coolant, my best guess is that its not sealing right, either due to a failed gasket or improper torque. It should be 17ft lbs by the book.
****Oh yeah very important, make sure your timing marks are dead on because these cars have a crank sensor too, so if is off it will not start.
Hi John, Appreciate your site alot! I got a 02 chrysler intrepid, just changed the water pump. I get slack(chain) on the passenger side sprocket to water pump off and on as I rotate engine with tensioner intalled.The timing marks are all lined up. what am I missing here? Baffled in canada and havin a beer. thanks. & merry xmass
I am having the same problem as Patrick. I replaced the Water Pump and without the engine running I put antifreeze into the overflow tank. The antifreeze runs right out the weephole. I bought a new pump and it came with the gasket that has the metal with the rubber fused to it. The old gasket was not like this. I am wondering if the gasket is causing the problem. Any thoughts would be appreciated. Thanks.
I emailed the following to Patrick, and since this has come up more than once, I’ll just state for the record that I don’t know a definitive reason why this is happening. I can speculate, but nothing “pleasant” or trivial comes to mind:
1) compromised seal (or missing seal). Perhaps some seals require additional sealant to be effective. IIRC, I used some when I did this job. Compromised seal could also be caused by incorrectly tightened water pump bolts
2) faulty water pump shaft seal
3) bigger problem, like a cracked block or something really serious…
And of course, it’s worth triple checking to be 100% certain it’s the weep hole and not something leaking above the weep hole. Any loose hose or some other issue around the manifold could be the source of the leak. I’d give a serious look’n around the outside components before going back into the water pump.
Hello John,
Thanks for the quick response. I figured something out last night that I think might have fixed my problem. The gasket that I got with the new water pump was a rubber gasket fused with the metal plate. The gasket that came off the car was just a rubber gasket. The engine in the car is not the one original one. I took both gaskets to the auto parts store and had them search different years to see if they may have different styles of gaskets. They dont. The guy told me to look closely at the block. He thought that maybe the rubber gasket seperated from the metal plate. He was right the metal plate was stuck to the block and it was hard to even see that it was not part of the motor. In reality I had 2 metal plates and one rubber gasket on the water pump. I have not tried to put antifreeze in it yet but I am thinking that the two gaskets is probably the reason that it was leaking out the weephole. I am not sure if this might be Patricks problem but it may be something for him to look at.
Thanks again,
D Eutsey
Just had the water pump replaced. Within a day, oil pressure problem and the engine locked up! What could have caused this? Thanks.
John we just changed the water pump on a friends Dodge Stratus 2.7 liter. It’s a 2004 with 100k+ miles the inside was fairly clean ,no sluge every thing came apart and reassembled just as your instructions. We started the engine and now we have a lot of noise and little or no oil pressure at idle. We changed the timing chain guides and we did not have to compress the tensioner very much. The engine ran very good before with on indication of oil pressure problems. Can you shed some light on our problem?
@Frank H. — Seams like a fair number of us have had possibly similar problems after doing this. As I mentioned in the write-up, the timing chain rattled at idle after I did the job when the engine warmed up. I never put an oil pressure gauge on it to see if the oil pressure low, but, that’s a distinct possibility. Another commented had the same problem you are having.
Since the tensioner is part of the the pressurized oil galley system, any problem with a compromised seal would be dumping pressurized oil. Other than the tensioner, I can’t think of anything else that could be to blame.
I wish I knew what we did wrong.
Hey, Changed the water pump, reset the cam sprockets & timing chain with guides. Car runs Great!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FtD4mn9CeH4&NR=1
We replaced the water pump on a 2004 Chrysler Sebring 2.7L, engine started properly,no noise until
it reached operating temperature, now has a rattle noise from tensioner/chain area
Its either the tensioner was not reset properly, after reseting the tensioner slightly poke the bearing at the back of it. It will give a slight spurt of oil. Another possibility are the galley way where the oil runs down to fill the tensioner may be plugged. You might have to clean away any sludge present.Also the last sprocket cam to be installed is on the drivers side. With the tensioner extended completely.
http://www.pera.org/articles/eb40430.htm
http://www.justanswer.com/questions/tm7k-2002-intrepid-timing-setup-and-evaluation
I changed my water pump,oil pump, all timing chains, I’m now stump as why the crank shaft marking to the oil pump marking don’t set my #1 piston at TDC as the Hayne book indicate ( piston has already traveling down ) cam gears also have 2 markings ( arrow and dot ). which one do I use to time the engine? greatly appreciate your reply.
I forgot to mention it was a 2002 chrysler sebring. thanks