How to replace ps pump, water pump, optispark, spark plugs and wires

--1994 Roadmaster Wagon Estate Limited Collectors Edition--
--125k miles--

Wuzzup everybody! This is my first post! Yeaaa I'm awesome!!! I ended up here because someone mentioned this place at buickforums.com. Those guys are great, they helped me fix my AC last summer. From reading posts here, looks like you guys are awesome too.

Well today I'm frustrated, confused, and worried. I've done big jobs before on my other cars, I thought this car would be easier because its American.

The question I keep asking out loud so far is "really? i have to remove this too? really?"

First ... the power steering pump, after removing the pulley and the bracket, the high pressure line is still very hard to reach. How do you guys attack it? From behind, below, front? Do I need one of those pipe wrenches for this or will a regular wrench be ok?:
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Next, do i really need to remove this bracket to remove the water pump?:
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^^^I've removed all the bolts, and it looks like this bracket shares a nut with the water pump. I've removed that nut, and the other bolts that hold the bracket, and the bracket is now a bit loose but still held on by EGR pipes n sht, but the water pump will not budge, at all, feels like its permanently cemented to the block. Am I doing this right? Do I really need to disconnect the EGR sht (i think its EGR, some kind of emmissions exhaust pipe things) to remove the bracket to remove the water pump? this just seems really ridiculous and im worried i might remove it unnecessarily.

Next, how the hell do people change spark plugs on these cars? Holy sht dude! Look at this!:

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^^^ and i also want to replace the spark plug wires, which i dont even know how to hell im going to route the wires back there with those heat shield thingees. Any advice on how to attack that?

(edit: ok after reading some posts here, looks like i should attack the plugs and wires from below the car and/or through wheel well)

Background:
All of these symptoms started around the same time within the past 6 months or so: Car would be low on coolant, add water but it would be low again in a few weeks. Temp gauge started to read lower than halfway around the same time this symptom started, i believe this is evidence of the thermostat got seized in one position because of low coolant. Once in a while, the temp gauge will shoot up to very hot and then go back down.

Car misses spark occasionally.

Power steering momentarily cuts out now and then.

I took it to a shop and paid $150 to get diagnosis of everything that they can find wrong with the car. They pressure tested the ps system and diagnosed a weak pump, needs to be replaced. For ignition test they detected weak pattern. They said the water pump is leaking onto the optispark. The sparkplugs, which are original and have never been changed, are out of gap. The sparkplug wires are original, evidenced by the writing/print on the wires. They quoted over $2.5k to fix it all and said its not worth fixing and to just get another car. I decided to buy the parts from ebay and my local advance auto parts store and do it in my driveway because this car has kind of grown on me and I'd like to see it continue to live on a much longer life. It rides like a dream, like floating on a cloud, and its fast, runs like a raped ape when you step on it. It's the car we brought my son home in from when he was born in the hospital and I think it would be cool that he can grow up with the car.

I am doubting their diagnosis on the optispark. I don't see evidence of any water leaking in the area. I would think I would see white crustiness as evidence but i dont see that. However, "weak pattern detected", does that mean the voltage/amps detected from the wires is low? Are they detecting the timing slightly off or missing occasionally and that's because of the optispark?

That harmonic balancer/main crank pulley does not look fun to remove to get to the optispark. I bought this aftermarket optispark:
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, are aftermarket for this item known to be reliable? Or is this one of those things you should only stick to OEM for?

Thanks for any help or advice you guys can provide!

Warm regards,

Have you read the Qalo SS manual? It has a lot of good information, such as how to change the spark plugs wires.
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How to pull the trouble codes from the AC on the dashboard.
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The official misfire/surge thread.
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There is a lot of advice about your optispark here.
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Wow that was fast. Thanks Nick. (wait, are you a bot? because i said i already fixed my AC last summer). Thanks for the links - yay another forum!

Viewing the trouble codes from the AC is different from using your AC. Check out the link. Once you know your trouble codes, you can post them online and people who are much more talented than I am can tell you what direction to go.

You need to remove the alternator and brackets to easily get to that PS fitting. I use a regular wrench (long one) since its a PITA to get a line wrench in there. Just make sure you have the right size and don't round that fitting. Does not look rusty, but it does not hurt to spray some PB Blaster on it just incase.
**edit...looking at your picture...you already removed the alternator. You have tons of room! Think angles with that wrench...you don't have to have it completely horizontal to the fitting.

Yup, get to the plugs from inside the wheelwell. Jack the front up and take the front wheels off (and those A-arm dust shields) Put the metal plug shield thingees on when you are done. Don't have them on the wires when you are routing them.

Oh, also..yes you need to remove that bracket to get the waterpump off. There are 6 bolts total (3 on each side) You can't get to the 3rd one with that bracket on.

Chris

Oh...and you could have taken the whole pump out without removing the pulley....you see that now right? I would always loosen the fitting and hose before I take the mounting bolts off too. That way you are not trying to hold the pump and what you are trying to loosen at the same time.

You will get it It's fun doing it yourself!

Chris

Do your wires with the water pump off! It is possible with the pump on, I did it. then found out afterwards my opti cap was bad and had to take off the water pump to get to it and said
holy crap that would have been SOOOOOOOO much easier this way.

On the wires it's the passenger side that is a total PITA.

brokecello wrote:

**edit...looking at your picture...you already removed the alternator. You have tons of room! Think angles with that wrench...you don't have to have it completely horizontal to the fitting.

it may look that way from the pictures but i assure you i did not. but i will! thanks for the tip! i planned on removing at least the brackets but came here to check before doing that to see if im going overkill removing stuff.

brokecello wrote:

Oh, also..yes you need to remove that bracket to get the waterpump off. There are 6 bolts total (3 on each side) You can't get to the 3rd one with that bracket on.

excellent, thanks. i read somewhere this is called the AIR pump bracket, and i can just get rid of all that stuff anyway since its not needed?

brokecello wrote:

Oh...and you could have taken the whole pump out without removing the pulley....you see that now right? I would always loosen the fitting and hose before I take the mounting bolts off too. That way you are not trying to hold the pump and what you are trying to loosen at the same time.

i need to remove the pulley anyway to put onto the replacement pump, it seems easier to use the crappy pulley puller tool i rented when i have the pump mounted, because its very hard to turn the puller bolt because its all chewed up, so i had to get up on it like a spider monkey and use my foot to push turn the wrench. advance auto parts also got me the wrong ps pump as ive just now discovered, its blaringly obviously different.

brokecello wrote:

It's fun doing it yourself!

..... HAAAAAAAAAAAA HAHAHAHAHA!!!!! HAAAAAAAAAAAAAA HAHAHAHAHA!!!!

seriously though, its much more tolerable after researching this and other forums because now i know that this ridiculousness is normal.

As said before, the AIR pump bracket has to come off to get the WP off. You may have to fight the pump a bit, I just did this 2 weeks ago and mine was on there real good. Do the wires with the pump off, its much easier. The cylinder 7 wire can be a pain, but its important that you mount it back in that channel or the wire will burn up in no time. I was able to slide the wire loom out of the channel and then lift the wire out, then put the new wire in and slide the loom back in.
If your water pump is leaking, it can cause your power steering to cut out like you said, it happened to me. It has a habit of dripping on the belt causing it to slip. While you have the pump out, get the harmonic balancer off with a harmonic balancer puller. You can rent one from autozone or advance. I don't know if you plan to service the opti, but I strongly advice you do while your there. Get the cover off and see how much oil you picked up. My cars ran perfectly, but had an alarming amount of oil in that thing. Get a decent cap and rotor, don't waste your money on those cheap ebay optis, you will be sorry in a few miles.
Can't give any advice on the power steering pump, never had the joy of removing one. Good luck!

i,d doubt there's anything wrong with the p/s pump,. the water pump weeps a little out of the bottom weep hole onto the belt,. it slips some giving you feeling the P/S is jerking,.
tap the waterpump,. its got dowel pins,. put a new one on,.
carry on,. you're doing fine,.
LT1's will still run on 8 cyls just fine,. but be down on power and hogging fuel,.
new plugs and o2's fix that usually,.assuming all filters are clean etc,.

nick

phantom 309 wrote:

i,d doubt there's anything wrong with the p/s pump,. the water pump weeps a little out of the bottom weep hole onto the belt,. it slips some giving you feeling the P/S is jerking,.
tap the waterpump,. its got dowel pins,. put a new one on,.
carry on,. you're doing fine,.
LT1's will still run on 8 cyls just fine,. but be down on power and hogging fuel,.
new plugs and o2's fix that usually,.assuming all filters are clean etc,.

nick

the belts were dry, but very worn and cracked. in fact, the accessory belt came off in two pieces, it was split almost all the way down the middle along the length of the belt.

but the shop said they pressure tested the ps system to determine the pump has low/weak output.

so experience/history shows that ps pumps going bad on these cars is rare?

stevetwors wrote:

phantom 309 wrote:

i,d doubt there's anything wrong with the p/s pump,. the water pump weeps a little out of the bottom weep hole onto the belt,. it slips some giving you feeling the P/S is jerking,.
tap the waterpump,. its got dowel pins,. put a new one on,.
carry on,. you're doing fine,.
LT1's will still run on 8 cyls just fine,. but be down on power and hogging fuel,.
new plugs and o2's fix that usually,.assuming all filters are clean etc,.

nick

the belts were dry, but very worn and cracked. in fact, the accessory belt came off in two pieces, it was split almost all the way down the middle along the length of the belt.

but the shop said they pressure tested the ps system to determine the pump has low/weak output.

so experience/history shows that ps pumps going bad on these cars is rare?

The water drips on the belt when the motor is shut off, now the belt has a slippery small section,.,..you don't turn the steering too hard,. the belt doesn't slip,. next time same thing , only this time you dial in a lot of steering at a stopped position needing full p/s pump pressure, the belt slips, momentarilly on the slippery section the grabs on the dry section etc,. then makes friction,. dries off the belt,. the belt doesn't slip,.
So some one that starts off in the morning and doesn't make any tight turns , fast steering inputs, or doesn't turn the wheel at a dead idle,. may in fact have a leaking waterpump for quite a while,. and the antifreeze seems to simply disappear,. because all traces are being worn off the belt,.
So mechanics unfamiliar with the idiosycrasies of LT1 engines, diagnose P?S pump problems,.
and then every one changes the opti spark regardless of mileage, because they are the devils handiwork,. (tic)

Your mechamic is going to look stupid if he lets you out the door without changing a bunch of things,.
"low weak output" love that catch phrase,.
perhaps grab your mechanic by his balls and squeeze, see if he has" low weak out put", if so, offer to remove his balls, then see how different his diagnosis is regarding your P/S
JMHO.



but hey,. what do i know,..

nick

phantom 309 wrote:

stevetwors wrote:

phantom 309 wrote:

i,d doubt there's anything wrong with the p/s pump,. the water pump weeps a little out of the bottom weep hole onto the belt,. it slips some giving you feeling the P/S is jerking,.
tap the waterpump,. its got dowel pins,. put a new one on,.
carry on,. you're doing fine,.
LT1's will still run on 8 cyls just fine,. but be down on power and hogging fuel,.
new plugs and o2's fix that usually,.assuming all filters are clean etc,.

nick

the belts were dry, but very worn and cracked. in fact, the accessory belt came off in two pieces, it was split almost all the way down the middle along the length of the belt.

but the shop said they pressure tested the ps system to determine the pump has low/weak output.

so experience/history shows that ps pumps going bad on these cars is rare?

The water drips on the belt when the motor is shut off, now the belt has a slippery small section,.,..you don't turn the steering too hard,. the belt doesn't slip,. next time same thing , only this time you dial in a lot of steering at a stopped position needing full p/s pump pressure, the belt slips, momentarilly on the slippery section the grabs on the dry section etc,. then makes friction,. dries off the belt,. the belt doesn't slip,.
So some one that starts off in the morning and doesn't make any tight turns , fast steering inputs, or doesn't turn the wheel at a dead idle,. may in fact have a leaking waterpump for quite a while,. and the antifreeze seems to simply disappear,. because all traces are being worn off the belt,.
So mechanics unfamiliar with the idiosycrasies of LT1 engines, diagnose P?S pump problems,.
and then every one changes the opti spark regardless of mileage, because they are the devils handiwork,. (tic)

Your mechamic is going to look stupid if he lets you out the door without changing a bunch of things,.
"low weak output" love that catch phrase,.
perhaps grab your mechanic by his balls and squeeze, see if he has" low weak out put", if so, offer to remove his balls, then see how different his diagnosis is regarding your P/S
JMHO.



but hey,. what do i know,..

nick

the steering would be more difficult at low speed, but pretty much not work at all and be almost impossible to parallel park. once cruising at speed it would work smooth, but still occasionally jerk on/off a bit on turns through intersections at about 15-20mph. kind of dangerous, id be turning left through an intersection across oncoming traffic and, SURPRISE! However, the symptoms would stay consistent from departure to arrival for a 15min drive. So that might mean the belt is continuing to be dripped on during the drive and not just from when it was sitting? Otherwise you would expect the belt to dry off after a few min right?

So the herky jerky thing is not a symptom of a failing pump, but rather a slipping belt? The shop said the ps pumps on my particular car is a variable valve or variable vains type pump, cant remember exact wording, to explain the on/off behavior when they start to die, and that they've seen them fail often on my model vehicle. What's the symptom of a failing ps pump? Consistent difficult steering instead of on/off? Noise? On my 300zx, it made a noise and got noisier with steering input.

i think its sad that a shop would use such tactics, especially when they see my wife and 2 year old son show up at the shop, how could they want to put hardship on a young family? especially during these hard economic times. all they did was lose a sale by causing me to walk away, because its just a matter of economics; that quote they gave me is just in actuality not possible to pay. but if they had just been honest and gave a much lower quote for just the things they know need to be replaced, i might have stayed and had them do it.

Steve:

Can't comment on the "low weak output" thing (Nick said it far more eloquently than I could have) but these cars are equipped with "variable effort steering". In your second picture, you will find an electric valve just above the line you are trying to remove. If this valve goes bad, it will sometimes create your jerky "hold and release" symptom you are describing. A good way of testing this is to just disconnect this valve. That will default the system to full power assist. If the jerking disappears than that valve is the culprit, not your PS pump.

Fully agree with the slipping belt stuff as well.

Bill

Welcome to the world of LT1's. Pain to work on but worth the effort!

Ask the regulars,.

we DO know more (usually) than your corner garage,..and we're much more fun to talk to,.
well some are anyway,.and some are distanced from the rest,.

Nick
distanced

Steve, it was good to talk to you today.

As per our discussion (and for others later) IF yo need a new opti, this is the one you want.. [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]

Notice the almost clear cover..... that's the original. Aftermarket has solid colors.

Replace the vent harness. Just do it. It's cheap and will save you headaches later.

Replace the plugs and wires first. It's cheaper than the opti and will exclude it if the car runs better.

Buffman on buickforums.com has the water pump install tool.

Here is the Timing cover gasket kit for the new WP and opti seals.. TCS45956

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