Aaarrrrgghhh !!!! Changing the water pump in my 84 w/ a/c

["CarAudio" <caraudio@ici.net>]

Hello All,

I just need to blow off a little steam.  I decided to go ahead and change
my water pump today, I noticed it had started to leak last week.  let me
tell you  it's no fun in my 84 Scirocco with factory air.  I'm not sure if
any of you are familiar withthe a/c setup in this car, but the compressor
is above the alternator. So, not only did I have to remove the timing belt
& upper housing, the drive belts, the alternator and the compressor (
which was a MAJOR project in itself), but the bracket that the compressor
bolts to also has to be removed.  Let me tell you just unbolting the
compressor and bracket is NO fun ! I'm going on three hours now and I'm
just starting to put the car back together.

On my early GTI's I was able to remove just the water pump, without the
attached housing.  But,  because the prior owner stripped two of the lower
pulley bolts, I couldn't get the lower pully off.  This meant I couldn't
get the lower timimg belt housing off.  Also access to the alternator bolt
is EXTREMELY difficult with the a/c compressor housing in the way.  I
noticed on my 86 Scirocco that the a/c compressor and alternator setup are
completely different.  On the 86 the alternator drives off the compressor
and is above not below it.  I guess VW realized how poor of a design the
early one was.

I was all set to just leave the compressor out, seeing as how the a/c quit
last year, but I need the bracket to bolt the alternator back on.  I
thought I had kept the old non a/c bracket from one of my prior GTI's,
when I parted it out.  But of course I have moved since then and I still
haven't found all the parts I have.  I know they're in a box in my garage
or basement, but I'm so aggrivated right now, I really don't feel like
looking for it.

So as it goes,  I hope to have the car up and running again in a couple of
more hours.  Seeing as how hindsight is 20/20 I almost wish I let my local
mechanic do this job.  I sure know I won't do it again.

Thanks for letting me vent ............... BTW anyone else run into this
problem ?

Gene
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