That should work. Just don’t run the car without coolant for more than 15-30 seconds. Less if you can.

 

As 5by5 said.

POS - Piece Of S*******

Good luck.

 

Question: Okay, doing it now... Can I drive the car (for a few seconds) WITH the belt-tensioner in the locked position (by a pin/long nail etc)?

 

Yes. But your AC won’t work!

 

QUESTION:
ok im half way through the bolts on the water pump and i noticed the water-temperature sensor (as described in the video you referenced above at 13 min/30 secons), however unlike in the video, my water temp sensor doesn't have wiggle room to move to the right in order for me to pull the water pump out. So I tried to unhook it from the black piece it's connected to but the small plastic clip just broke off.

Please have any ideas as to how I should do this....im gonna be working on pulling out the other bolts in the meanwhile...

Thanks

 

Is it the clip holding the connector on the sensor? If so you might be able to reconnect.

Which part broke? Harness or sensor?

 

If it’s just the clip on the connector you should be able to lock it with some silicone caulk or a piece of soft wire.

Be better to replace but you’d have to locate the connector. If the connector is tight you might be ok just reconnecting.

 

Broken part (water temperature sensor): The clip that fastens both black pieces to each other....I will continue my project today, as I was unavailable over the weekend, and lets hope all goes well...

 

The holding clip appears to be part of the connector on the wiring harness. That means you’d need a new connector to fix properly.

I’d be tempted to go with a friction fit with a tab of silicone if you can get the parts clean enough for silicone to stick.

Silicone is able to withstand pretty high heat so it would be better than a nylon zip tie or shrink tubing. https://shop.advanceautoparts.com/p/...licone+sealant. It’s also designed for electrical applications but could be peeled off if you ever need to take it apart again.

BTW, it looks like the sensor will rotate. Can you turn it so it doesn’t interfere with pump removal?
5

 

One Update and 2 Questions:

1. I used an e-torx E14 to successfully unfasten the alternator bolt..... Woohooo!

5by5, per the video you referenced i was able to shimmy the water pump away from the temperature sensor, although still unable to move the water-temperature sensor itself.

Btw per my research the part number for the alternator bolt is: 000000001143

2. Upon looking at the area on the car where the water pump fastens to, I noticed there is no inlet or groove to insert the rubber ring that came with my purchase of a new water pump. In the video that 5by5 previously referenced (at 15 minutes and 10 seconds) there looks to be a ring installed by the manufacturer but no gasket, however on my car it's vice versa: no ring but yes gasket....please enlighten me, how do i insert the rubber ring without a noticeable groove or inlet as shown in the video below?!

5by5 video reference (view 15 min/10 sec):
3. Regarding the water-temperature sensor: below is a photo of the black clip that I'm referring to. I raised the metal piece behind the water temperature sensor (referenced in the video below at 1minute and 3 seconds) so that i could remove the sensor (as described in the video below) but then realized that i dont need to remove the sensor since i was able to remove the water pump.

The black fastening-clip is still broken however the sensor did not unfasten....so do you think it's okay to keep it as is?

The following link directs you to a youtube video that discusses the black clip that I'm referring to, at 55 seconds in the video:
Picture of fastener clip below:




Thanks in advance for your assistance

 

The alternator bolt is an torx E14. An 11mm hex also sorta fits. 11mm 12 point also fits but would be much more like to strip. 12mm goes on but it’s much to loose.

You can get torx socket set for about $10-15. I wouldn’t use anything else except in an extreme emergency.

 

Hey, i just updated my previous post withh 2 questions.....

 

Glad you got everything out. That’s usually the hardest part.

Rubber ring vs flat gasket is either or. Just use the one that matches what you have. Throw the other one away. Make sure you remove all the old gasket and clean the surfaces well.

As for the clip on the sensor, I’d snug it up and hold it with a dab of automotive silicone adhesive. There’s a link in one of my earlier posts.
5

 

First of All:

THANK YOU to 5by5 and RedGray for all of your help.
5by5 thank you for telling me to buck up and do it. I did not know or think that I could do something close to changing the water pump on my vehicle .
Completing this project has instilled within me a newfound overall confidence and a newfound interest and appreciation for fixing my own cars. I appreciate all of the time you have spent in advising me and all that this MBWorld forum has made possible for me!!

UPDATE:

Hey I just finished successfully installing the water pump, however after turning on the car I found out that the original whining noise (that led me to change the water pump) is actually coming from the pulley for the Air Conditioner Compressor (number 4 in the graph below). So I'm somewhat bummed, as I may have prematurely changed an item on my car that didn't need changing yet.

Question 1. This means that I'll have to find out how to change the pulley for the Air Conditioner Compressor, although it seems difficult since it's buried way into the right corner of the car without enough room to work there....Any videos and photographs on how to change the pulley for the Air Conditioner Compressor?

Question 2. However before I begin changing anymore pulleys, now my scenario is this: Soon after I turned the car on to test the coolant level I noticed smoke coming from under the plastic cover that lays over the engine! I also noticed a new leak that must be just a couple days old and it looks like it came from the same area but underneath from where the smoke is emanating from. I'm thinking the leak might be from the transmission....So how can I check if the engine oil and transmission oil are low?

• Update to Question 2: I noticed that smoke is not coming out from underneath the cover as described above...could it be possible that the smoke was a result of the engine burning the coolant that I accidentally spilled outside of the reservoir??

Car: 2001 Mercedes Benz, C240, V6, 2.6 Liter, M112 Engine Designation, 112k miles
Thanks much!!!

 

My pleasure! One job like this is all it takes. Welcome to the club! I’ve learned so much on this forum so I’m glad I could help.

Sorry to hear you’re still getting a noise. Not a bad thing to change the pump though, especially if your vehicle is getting some miles.

Yes it’s possible for spilled coolant or oil to burn off. Drive it a bit, check levels often. Oil on exhaust manifold will smoke. Not so much elsewhere so you if you’re seeing smoke or steam, it’s probably coolant. Any smell? Coolant is sickly sweet. Oil more acrid, like a fresh blacktop road.

Look carefully around the pump gasket and hose connections. New leaks are almost always where you just worked.

If you need to trace a leak, a UV flashlight can help. I bought one at Walmart for less than $10. You can also use them to see if the ac system or compressor are leaking if you add uv dye.

 

Off to another project....thanks again everybody