I think this also applies to quite a few other transverse mounted 4-bangers where the water pump pulley is very close to the inner fender. The shop manual requires the front engine mount be disconnected and the engine jacked up apparently in order to access the water pump pulley attachment bolts. It seems to me with the right tool, sort of an offset-wrench, you could remove those bolts without having to jack the engine. Or would you still have to jack the engine for another reason. If not, it seems like somebody producing & selling that offset-wrench tool could make a bundle. What do you folks think?
Do you need to replace your water pump . . . in other words, is it leaking or making noise?
Or are you merely curious?
I had to jack up my brother’s engine . . . another Toyota, not a Corolla, though . . . to replace the water pump. There simply wasn’t room enough to do it any other way
You just do what’s required, and allow yourself enough time for the task at hand
BTW . . . you’re working with false logic, imo Even if you somehow got the pulley bolts off without jacking up the engine, in those tight applications you’re talking about, there’s still not enough room to actually remove the water pump, until you DO jack up the engine. Think about the impeller, and the amount it protrudes
The special off-set wrench wouldn’t do you much good
I did my usual Google search and found several YouTube videos describing how to do the job. It seems that jacking up the engine is necessary, but it’s not that big a deal.
No water pump leaks, only curious. I did have a little leak in that area I fixed last weekend, not the pump tho. Where the pump connects with the inlet tube there’s an o-ring seal there, and the nuts holding the parts together were a little loose. But I got to wondering while looking at the situation why the engine must be lifted to replace the pump. B/c it appears with the proper tool it seems like it would be possible to remove the bolts holding the pulley. But might still not be able to remove the pulley from the pump or the pump itself without still having to lift the engine. I have some experience lifting the engine. I’ve done that a few times replacing timing belts. Above posters are correct, it’s not that much of a chore; but it definitely increases the time it takes to do the job, and it can be a little awkward and time consuming to get the engine aligned back up with the front mount well enough to be able to poke the mount bolt back through.
@Rod_Knox … thanks for the link to the engine support bar. I actually made one of those out of lumber and assorted adjustable fasteners. I use it when replacing timing belts. But I still have to jack the engine from below usually as part of the job.
Don’t tell anyone but I had 3 of those made from lumber so I could keep engines and transmissions supported for days and sometimes weeks while waiting for parts. My homemade models allowed me to close the hood and park the car out back while waiting. But the professional model was needed to quicly get the engine torn down.
Can’t say I have lots of experience with it, but what I have learned is that using your time to lift or shift an engine is often way better than trying to come up with some work-around. You just end up getting more and more involved in your “creative” solutions, wishing for a third elbow and eyes that can see through your fingers.