Worth replacing water pump as "preventative maintenance"?
 

2000 S-10 4.3 (w) 4x4

I'm replacing the idler and tensior pulley's right now. Is it worth replacing the water pump while I'm getting my hands dirty? The water pump is original and has 182,000 miles on it.

A bit overboard in my book but if it helps you sleep better at night be my guest.

good luck with that nut holding fan assembly. i really struggled getting it off. one tip make sure you have a wench that fits it. and spray the heck out of it (PB Blaster)

You never know how long a water pump will last. But at 182,000 I doubt if it will last much longer.:icon_wink:

I would. Mine went at 275k km's when it was -30 Celsius and I had my son with me. Just barely made it home, was smoking the whole way home. Definitely a crappy situation to be in. And I don't have a garage either so replacing it was extra fun.

https://cimg0.ibsrv.net/gimg/blazerf...44b72c0d41.jpg
Old cheap set of cresent wrenches bought Western Auto years ago.. MADE IN CHINA junk.. any way never stayed set , floppy jaws . PIA.. Need to replace water pump on 99 Blazer and new Radiator Do a 1 time and Done with it. well fited the Wrench to fan Hub.. took the set screw out to make it long and fit fan nut. marked it. took to a local machine shop for tack weld . and forget 36mm ?? but he charged me $5.00 for the very simple tacks with welder. Used it. then painted it to find easiy later...
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Home made fan nut wrench
fits a Blazer of course and a Dodge 1500 4x4 truck and i'm sure other Brands 36mm if I recall correctly any way. for Laying around a un used Piece of China Junk from the 90's.. it works .. just short on handle length, so a open end wrench in end for a cheater to make length longer..

I figure it is a bit of a crap shoot: Replacing the original before it fails or causing more issues by digging into the engine. In the end, I thought about doing it but decided to leave it as is. I'm at 140,000 miles.

If you do replace it, find a high quality replacement. I found an supreme duty one by Cardone, pn 5511311H.

A air impact chisel with the punch attachment end inserted breaks the nut loose in seconds along with re tighting them

Even better, if you're going to do more than one or two fan clutches, It makes the job a piece of cake.

https://cimg5.ibsrv.net/gimg/blazerf...838e033020.jpg