Shop Plymouth Water Pumps

What engine is in this Voyager?
There are four different ones available in 1997; 2.4Lt in-line 4 cylinder, 3.0Lt V6, 3.3Lt V6 and a 3.8Lt V6.
The 2.4 and the 3.0Lt’s the water pumps are driven by the timing belt, which makes changing the pump a lot more involved. The timing belt has to be removed to replace the pump; if you mistimed the belt during installation there a good chance of doing some serious damage to the engine.
If your van has the 3.3 or the 3.8Lt they are much simpler pumps to do, but you still have to be mechanically inclined not to get into trouble by overheating the engine.
These times are from a flat rate labour guide; they are based on what it should take (time wise) for a trained technician to perform this job.
2.4Lt – 3.8 hours.
3.Lt – 4.4 hours
3.0 & 3.8Lt – 1 hour.
Just by the allotted times you can see how much more involved the 2.4 and 3.0Lt’s are; a novice could easily double if not triple these times.
Dan.

Fill it up at radiator first and start looking. Be prepared to catch the coolant if it is a real fast leak. Recovery tanks themselves can be the leak so you just have to look around. Catch this early will surely help to prevent any further damage,

T

Clean it off really good with something like carburetor cleaner. This dries quickly. Use a mirror to determine where the leak is coming from.

1- ensure your timing marks (camshafts,crankshaft) are aligned .
2- turn the camshaft sprockets slightly clockwise so the timing marks are 1/2 tooth apart (intake up)
3-install the timing belt to the sprockets and pulleys counterclockwise direction ,startind at the crankshaft sprocket
4 turn the camshft sprockets until the timing sprockets are aligned and take any slack in the belt
5-ensure timing belt taut between sprockets on non tension side
6- removed the allen wrench to allow the tensioner to operate
7- turn the crankshaft slowly two turns clockwise and check timing marks are aligned
8- install all the compones in reverse order
9- torque the cranshaft 100lbs
10 and good luck! sorry for the spelling

This thread is 7 months old and I'm sure he must have resolved his issue by now. Please check the dates before posting.

What kind of belt failure did the engine have?
You may want to do a compression and leakdown test to determine if you have any bent valves since this is an interference engine.

I would still do a compression test. With a DOHC, you can bend them just by rotating the cams with the belt off.

OK. Didn't do a leak down test but compression test was fine. Still looking. lol

A dual cam belt can be a real pain to set up. One tooth off on any sprocket can drive you nuts. Be absolutely ,positively without a doubt sure your not One tooth off. Hey it's happened to me.

The point I was making is the the DOHC is not an interference engine with the pistons but, the valves can hit each other if the cams are rotated independently without the belt.

Look and listen for a vacuum leak.

That was first thought but there doesn't seem to be one.

Vehicles without the pressure cap on the radiator itself must be filled thru the highest hose or what ever you can undo to fill it there. Then fill reservoir and let engine warm up and cool down a few times and it purges air and takes back coolant.

That fact that is was low is a problem by itself and just filling it alone most likely won't be the final fix. Try to fill it and locate the leak. Try hard to not allow it to overheat,

T

Hi Tom

There is a pressure cap on the rad itself, i can loosen it but can get it off, the car leaked once but not since, the temp gauge has gone up but not passed 1/2 way, am i over reacting to this problem.

Fill at radiator - sorry I don't know every car by model and year how they did it. It's much better to have a radiator that you can fill directly.

Fill that and let it run with cap off - carefully!! When (it should) start circulating air may come to the top and you'll see the coolant level drop. Then fill it all the way and proper level at radiator.

With that the system should be full. Now just let it run and feel the top hose get warm to hot (carefull again) and the fan should be blowing warm to hot air off the radiator. Heater should be able to blow hot air. If there's no fan or heater doesn't blow hot there could be air in the sytem still or things could be plugged up. System should hold pressure and not too fast after start up.

Temp gauges should stay steady when stabil at fully warmed up. If it fluctuates there's a problem. That could be a thermostat or fan doesn't work properly or perhaps the radiator is just not up to par.

You really can't test for much without knowing it's full first. Some are tricky and don't purge out the air that is in there if it was low for any reason. Some are a pest with that and a drive around the block can help or in some situations you need to jack up a car so the rad cap it at the highest point to let the air out when the thermostat opens. When thermostat is shut it will trap air on engine side that can't get out right away,

T

Thanks Tom

I think i am going to run the car into the shop, too many variables, always a fun adventure, never know if they are telling you the truth

Dan