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Water Pump Job

Posted: Tue Feb 10, 2009 11:58 pm
by Roady
This procedure has been taken from my Front Engine Renewal Project and is intended for those who are familiar with the following tasks.
  1. Remove Seat
  2. Remove Shelter
  3. Remove Radiator
  4. Test/Replace Fan Motor
  5. Test, R&R Fan and Temp Switches
  6. Replace Thermostat
  7. Replace Radiator Hoses and Cap
  8. Replace Timing Belts
  9. Replace Neutral Switch ('82-'83 only)
Having all that taken apart will get you to the water pump and transmission housing.

I'm not sure how much of that you really have to do to get to the water pump. If some of y'all Guru's know, please post it here. Regardless, if you haven't gotten into those things on this bike yet, now is a good time. I suggest that you "bite the bullet", order all your parts at once and do all of the listed tasks. Those are all covered in detail in the Front Engine Renewal Project thread.

For now let's get right to the main event.

Test/Remove Water Pump

Front always refers to the FRONT of the bike.
Left and Right as if you are sitting on the bike.

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#8, Water Pump Cap, on the left side of the engine will need to be removed to pull the radiator. Drain the oil and water. Then remove that cap before doing anything else. Now you can do a thorough inspection of the water pump without too much trouble.

Wiggle and Jiggle the water pump. Move the impeller (just inside #7) around with your fingers. All GL1100s originally came with a Bakelite (plastic) impeller. Replacements will likely have a metal impeller. Reach in the hole and push, pull, wiggle and turn the impeller. It should not turn more than about 1/16". It should not move noticeably either left, right, up or down. The weep hole on the bottom of the housing should be clear and open. Push a wire up there to check. Have a read through Octane's Water Pump Leak, Why & How for more details.

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If your pump is solid, no leaks, and the weep hole is clean ... well ... then why are you reading this?

If the pump moves around and is sloppy it needs to be replaced. Here's where we'll be going.

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Some have had success with rebuilding these pumps. But Honda's recommendation (and mine) is to replace it with an OEM pump. It ain't easy to get to and can be replaced for about $125. To rebuild you'd need the two bearing ($20 or so each) and a mechanical seal ($50) so you're almost at the cost of a new pump. Order the pump and a Water Pump Seal Kit. If the pump feels good but the weep hole is full of rusty crud, you should at least pull the transmission cover and disassemble, inspect, clean and replace all the seals.

If you do decide to rebuild the pump, first read Octane's Water Pump Rebuild tutorial.

Remove the water pump transmission cover. Get a piece of cardboard to store the transmission cover bolts. Draw a rough sketch of the trans housing on it and as you remove a bolt, jab it into its place on the drawing. There are 3 different lengths. You'll thank me later for the cardboard tip (like I thank Octane every time I use it).

NOTE: For GL1000 owners. Your bolts are Phillips Head and may be difficult to remove. Placerville had success with Howard Halasz's Bingo Method as described in Randakk's Tech Tip, Water Pump R&R Details on his web site. Placerville's extract from that page can be found in this post.

Remove the 4 hex head bolts (8mm) from the water pump cover. The two long ones are trans. cover bolts. Get the cover off. Good luck. Do not jam a screwdriver in there to pry it off or you'll ruin the gasket surface. The Haynes manual says to tap lightly with a rubber hammer. Mine required a bit more force and ended up being taken off when I got the transmission cover on the bench.

Remove the 9 hex head bolts (8mm) from around the trans. cover. I had the best luck with my 1/4" drive socket set. Remove the cover. Again, no prying. Tap around with a rubber or leather hammer. Take care to find the 3 dowel pins and note their locations (jam 'em into the cardboard) if they fall free.

Remove the three bolts (10mm) that hold the pump in the trans. cover. Discard the 3 crush washers. Lightly tap and press the pump out toward the front.

Have a cold one!

Clean up all of the parts real good. Remove all traces of the old gaskets and discard all o-rings.

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Make real sure that all the water and oil journals/passages are clear.

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See, I done a pretty good job. Hey, these parts are hidden and don't need much polish in my book.

Survey your new parts and water pump seal kit with new cover gaskets.

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Install the pump using new big o-rings and 3 new aluminum crush washers. Torque the bolts to 6 to 9 ft. lb.

Replace Neutral Switch ('82 and '83)

My '81 does not have this, of course. It's #6 in the transmission cover drawing.
Sagebrush wrote:IF it's an '82 or newer 1100, replace the neutral switch. You're going to be staring it in the face when you remove the transmission cover to get to the water pump.
Replace Water Pump Seals

Clean up the front mating surface on the block. Again, check and clear all water and oil journals and passages.

Remove the old water pump seal and install the new one.

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All but one of the o-rings (it's about 1", maybe it's for the '82-3 Neutral Switch) in the kit have a home. Make sure that you get them all in and well seated. There's a new one for the water pump cap #8, too. I like to apply a bit of grease to them so they'll stick in place. Put the 3 alignment dowels into their holes and hang the new trans. cover gasket on the front of the engine. Install the trans. cover with its 9 - 8mm bolts. Not too tight, yet.

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Put the water pump cover gasket in place over the two dowels on the trans. cover. Install the pump cover using its two short and two (extra) long bolts (all 8mm).

Tighten the 13 - 8mm bolts evenly and in a criss-cross pattern. Round and round gradually until they all snug up evenly. I couldn't get my torque wrench to most of them so I guesstimated on the 6 to 9 ft. lb. of pressure.

Put all your other new stuff on and go for a ride.

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Posted: Sun Jul 26, 2009 9:12 am
by bobby b
hi my tranny cover has a metal collet about 1 inch in diameter [fell out when removing tranny cover not sure where it goes. [around pump spline]?
near large water pump seal also had a thin washer i think to hold it in
could you help??

thanx a lot.

bobby b

Posted: Sun Jul 26, 2009 9:14 am
by Whiskerfish
Bobby B

What year is your bike??

1982 gw

Posted: Sun Jul 26, 2009 9:55 am
by bobby b
hi whiskerfish thx for the reply. it's an 1983 gw 1100 when i removed the
old water pump i discovered that the bearing back had partially fallen apart and the ball bearings had been exposed [minus 3 or so] where these damm
things are[missing bearings] is a mystery even more so is the missing bearing cover have looked everywhere nowhere to be found. the bike
ran fine except for the overheating a complete mystery to me.. i think the
1 inch round spline thingy is what is remaining of the bearing innards.
before my purchase the previous owners were mechanical deviants and
should be forced to walk everywhere as machinery to them is truly a blind spot between their ears.

water pump seal

Posted: Sun Jul 26, 2009 1:21 pm
by bobby b
hi where do you get a water pump seal for the 1100 gw??

Posted: Sun Jul 26, 2009 1:30 pm
by Cookie
I think Crescent Moon offers a reseal kit.

1100 gw water pump

Posted: Mon Jul 27, 2009 1:18 pm
by bobby b
hi have the new water pump reseal kit.. the largest tranny washer has a flat side and a hollow side does the flat side face the front tire or does hollow
side face the front tire?? is it of to silicone the o-rings..

Posted: Mon Jul 27, 2009 1:44 pm
by FirstYearDeek
What's a spanner?

Would I find it in the boot?

-Deek

Posted: Mon Jul 27, 2009 2:02 pm
by Cookie
That's what my Kiwi relatives call a wrench. Highly likely to find it in the boot, along with the tarp, sapre petrol, and picnic basket.

Posted: Mon Jul 27, 2009 2:08 pm
by bum
Now they come out with instructions, after I did my pump, hahaha 8)

Re: 1100 gw water pump

Posted: Mon Jul 27, 2009 2:22 pm
by Roady
bobby b wrote:hi have the new water pump reseal kit.. the largest tranny washer has a flat side and a hollow side does the flat side face the front tire or does hollow side face the front tire?? is it of to silicone the o-rings..
I'm not sure what you mean by "tranny washer", can you find it on the drawings and give us a number?

Do not put adhesive on the o-rings, just a little petro jelly will hold then in place till you can get the cover on.

Bum: I don't know when you did your water pump job but these instrux have been up on the site since 8/20/2008 (in the original "Front End Renewal Project" thread).

1100 gw water pump

Posted: Mon Jul 27, 2009 3:05 pm
by bobby b
hi sorry i mispoke i meant the water pump large hollow on 1 side o-ring
and flat on the other.. but i figured that out.. flat facing out.about the thread
i just discovered it 2 days ago.

is there a sheet to tell the different tranny cover bolts different lengths
and where they go. i just inhereted this project a week ago and still learning
to swim.

in the gasket rebuild kit there are extra o-rings 1 small one that does not seem to fit anywhere.

so. no gasket sealer on the various o-rings is high temp sealer good stuff?
since i not sure of the various oil/water pressures on that lower end i figured
hey why not.. but sealer not yet on.

is there a schmatic of the o-ring placement and their sizes.

Posted: Tue Nov 17, 2009 3:00 pm
by jstengel
I cannot get the water pump out of the housing. Shall I press it using the three bolts backed out a bit or whack it? What kind of pressure can the shaft take? I hesitate to whack it or press it. I gave it a few "love taps" but now I am seeking advice before going further. Thanks in advance.

Posted: Tue Nov 17, 2009 8:10 pm
by Roady
The o-rings are likely holding it in there.

First off ... do NOT use any PBBlaster, WD40 or solvent of anykind. That will just swell up the o-rings and make your problem worse.

Tapping and pressing is about what you're confined to here. You don't want to crack one of the covers but you gotta get it out of there. I think that I put the bolts in part way and tapped on them until it came loose. Support the trans cover well when you're doing that. Be patient, it will come apart.

Posted: Thu Nov 19, 2009 12:26 am
by jstengel
Got it out by alternately tapping the three bolts backed out a bit and the shaft as well. Mostly the bolt. There was a bit of dried out coolant that was holding it in.