mechanic says the bearings are going on the pump, and they might as well replace the thermostat while they are there.my question is he right?do they have to remove the engine to replace either the pump or the thermostat?seems like a lot of $ for a what should be a simple job ($450).thanks for your help!
ok well the water pump is a pretty easy fix if you pop the hood and look to the left side of the engine you will see your serpintine belt the water pump is the pully on top closest to the front of the car and that is prob like an hour to an hour and a half repair. now your thermostat is on the opposite side of the engine buried under your throttle body and is labor intensive possibly up to 3 hrs so if i was you, and i had a relitivly new grand am and the bearings were gone in the water pump i would leave the thermostat alone and fix the pump, why fix whats not broke especially if its gonna cost alot. chances are you dont need a thermostat. at NAPA it will cost like 25-35 dollars for the water pump. dont bother with the thermostat.
Sounds like you really either need to ask the mechanic how much would just the water pump and repair labour bill cost you with the thermostat.I really don't think the extra costs are worth it if such a high bill. One thing you can do is call around on the price of a new pump and then call or check around to find out what a mechanic will charge you just in labour fees and decide from there. Hope that helps and best of luck.By the way I doubt changing the pump would take any mechanic much longer then 45 to 90 mins to replace especially if they have the right speciality tools.So I'd also check out while comparison shopping the prices on the thermostat but if you do change it I'd install an anti-stick thermostat in it for sure.
The waterpump is very hard to get at to replace it. They do no thave to remove the engine, but they do have to remove a lot of the components to get to the waterpump. And it is a good idea to replace the thermostat while they have all the components removed. That way you can be sure that the thermostat will not be a problem later on. Especially now during winter. I think that is a fair price, unless you can get somebody else to do it other than a pro. It is worth saving your engine. If it gets hot, and you run it, your heads may become warped, your waterpump will give out and will cause much more damage. you will have to replace the pistons , rings, or probably the entire motor. good luck my friend.
If you have the 3.4L V6 the water pump is a simpler job to replace than the one on the 4 cylinder motor. The thermostat on the V6 is in a very tight spot, next to the exhaust pipe. I am unsure about the difficulty of the thermostat replacement on the 4 cyl.
2004 Pontiac Grand Am Water Pump
