Water pump replacement on a 2004 Monte....service center is telling me parts & labor will be $450. Is this high?

Can I buy this part and replace myself? I'm not the most advanced when it comes to auto body work but I can take things apart and put them back together pretty well.

On a scale of 1 to 10 how difficult is it to replace?

 

Does your Monte have a 3800 in it? If it does then you will only spend about $70 or so if you do it yourself. I don't know much about the 3400 so I can't really say how it is in that engine, but on the 3800 I would say the difficulty to replace the water pump is a 3 out of 10.

Edit: It'll be $70 if you replace the water pump AND the serpentine belt. If you don't need to replace the belt then it will cost you about $30 or so and then some coolant.

 

Yes it has a 3800.

So you think it'd be a better option if I replace it myself?

 

Absolutely!

One thing to keep in mind is that you will need to drain the coolant first. Just get a bucket and remove the lower radiator hose to do that. Once it's drained, take the belt off, and start removing bolts. One of the bolts is hidden behind the power steering pump pulley. There are holes in the pulley itself though that you can stick a socket and extension through. I believe there are 8 bolts total on the water pump (can't remember for sure). You can do the job with a basic tool set. The only hard parts (and they really aren't hard) is draining the coolant, taking the belt off, and finding that hidden water pump bolt behind the power steering pump pulley. Easy job.

 

make sure you use teflon tape or some other thread sealer on the long bolts. you'll know which ones because they will puke coolant out when you remove them also a lil helpfull hint....crack loose the 4 bolts that hold on the water pump pulley before removing the belt!