How to: replace a water pump and thermostat on a 98 Nissan Frontier.
Water pumps
In this episode, we will illustrate how to go about disassembling and reassembling the water pump and thermostat housing on a 1998 Nissan Frontier. As a caveat, place emphasis on understanding the order of operation and not the actual photographs themselves. I had to use my phone camera to take most of these pictures and some were taken in reverse order during the assembly process, hence the pictures are rather crappy and the actual parts may look out of order.
Remove air-filter housing.
Loosen and swivel out of the way the metal clip.
Loosen second clip and remove air-intake hose with slight pushing and twisting.
Power steering belt exposed.
Loosen Power Steering belt by adjusting the idler pulley (The rusty looking part on the right-hand-side).
Remove power-steering belt and locate structural plate.
Unbolt structural plate.
Remove plate.
Power-steering assembly
Unbolt two bolts attached to the power-steering assembly facing the front of the vehicle.
Unbolt two bolts attached towards the top side of the power-steering assembly as shown.
You should have removed four bolts attached to the power-steering assembly thus far.
Swivel the hinge away from the top of the power-steering assembly.
Get under vehicle and identify swivel bolt securing the alternator.
Loosen (do not remove) alternator swing bolt to allow swivel motion.
Move power-steering assembly out of the way without disconnecting attached hydraulic lines.
Adjust tension bolts attached to alternator to relieve tension to alternator belt for removal.
Water pump and thermostat housing.
Thermostat housing exposed after removing three bolts.
Water pump exposed after removing fan axle.
Close-up of water pump and screws attaching fan.
Water pump removed. Slight tapping was needed to dismount the pump after the bolts were removed.
Run a small bead of Water pump RTV silicone to secure everything in place. Read this article backwards to reassemble the truck.
nice guide
no need to go to car house to repair it
Man this helped. Without your pictures this would have been impossible for me to do alone. Have the Chilton repair manual though not nearly the detail you provided. After many hours (and beers) it all came together flawlessly. Thanks!
I want to thank you for the time and effort you put into conceiving this how to. It helped me tremendously, I would have never have figured this out on my own. You are AWESOME! 😀
How many hours should it take. I’ve got a high bill from my repair shop and trying to determmine if the labor charge makes sense.
Thanks