Mazda 626 Water Pump Replacement: Safety

Series Summary

The all-important water pump shoots coolant through the your car's cooling system. It's a simple centrifugal pump driven by a belt connected to the crankshaft of the engine. The pump circulates fluid whenever the engine is running. Water pumps fail with some regularity, so you can expect to replace yours sometime before 100,000 miles, if not sooner. In this free video series, an auto mechanic will demonstrate how to remove and replace a water pump in a Mazda 626. In addition to removing the water pump, steps for removing other engine parts will be covered, including the removal of the timing belt and lower motor mount. Finally, replacement of the water pump, timing belt and pulley will be explained and exhibited, as well as tips for cleaning the housing of the water pump.

Video Transcript

"Hello. My name is Jeff Fiffie. Today I'll be showing you how to remove and replace a water pump on a Mazda 626. Of course before you start with anything you want to think about safety. The safest thing to do is to remove the battery cables from the battery. It's going to vary on different cars. On this particular car it's going to take you a 10 millimeter just to loosen up the cables. First for the negative side then for the positive side. And then set them safely behind the battery so they don't touch the posts. You don't want to cause any sparks or flames. Of course there's going to be a few things that you have to remove before you can get to the water pump itself. This portion right here is called the power steering pump. This is going to have to be removed out of the way and then the motor mount and this assembly is going to have to be moved out of the way. As you disconnect the hose from the power steering pump put it back out of the way. Put the power steering pump back over in there nice and safe. And make sure you don't puncture any wires or hoses. This assembly here is the mount, motor mount. This is two portions. Set this portion back over on the fire wire itself. Safely so it doesn't fall. Now the housing has to be removed next."