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2008 Dodge Caravan Water Pump Replacement 

Car came in with a pulsating babbling sound from under the hood and overheating. It was the waterpump.

July 2015

Here is the Caravan.

This is the water pump we need to take off.

Working from under the hood is possible. I decided to work from underneath. Before you start. You might want to save the coolant by draining it through the radiator drain plug. In this case, I didn't have to worry about it because the all the coolant leaked through the water pump.

To take the water pump off, you will need to take off the five 10 mm bolts that hold the waterpump onto the block. However, to access those bolts you will need to take off the waterpump wheel held onto the waterpump drive flange by three bolts.

As you can see it is quite cramped in there and it would have been a bit difficult to hold the wheel and loosen the bolts simultaneously. I decided to leave the belt on and then loosen the bolts for this reason. If the bolts are too tight, you might want to turn the tensioner CCW to lock down the pulley harder to prevent it from rotating while loosening the bolts. 13 mm bolts here.

Next, need to release the drive belt in order to take the wheel off. 1/4 inch ratchet is needed here.

Spring the tensioner CW and tuck the belt away from the pulley. Tucking it in the manner shown will help in retaining the belt routing.

Now it is possible to remove the pre loosened 13 mm bolts by hand.

The pulley may be a bit snug. I acually had to use a pry bar to pop it off. Anyways, here is how it looks.

Next, need to take off the five 10 mm waterpump bolts off.

I used a 3/8 short socket on the three bolts left of the pump. The remaining two arount the drive flange are a bit difficult to get at and I used a long socket there.

This is what it will look like once out. The two holes around the flange may get a bit difficult and you may want to use a long socket there. Btw the bearing on this pump expired.

New water pump with the new gasket.

The bolts that a took off had threadlock on them. Decided to clean them off so that the threads can stretch and clamp adequately when tightened. Will make it easy to screw in the threads as well.

Wire brush works fine.

And WD-40 ofcourse. The heads on these 10 mm GM bolts break off easily so it is imperative that you get the most stretch possible with the least amount of turns/torque.

Just as I was about to put on the new pump. Realized that there were old gasket material still stuck on the block. Better clean that off or else the interface will leak..

Just a blade worked fine for me followed my some 350 grit sanding.

10 mm bolts back on.

Had screwed the wheel back on. Put on the belt. Turned and held down the tensioner CW as I tightened the 13 mm bolts.

Fill her up with coolant.

And let her go...