bankers1

It's that time in my Vettes life for lot's of preventative maintenance. C7 2017 GSCE with 58,000+/- miles. Original, retired owner, looking at my baby in my garage. Change out my
Water Pump. I get it that there should be a thermostat change, and new gasket BUT what else should I do while I'm at it? I have a new Radiator, Mitsimoto, oversized stainless, and Mitsimoto silicone hoses (last year). Can an old man 66, do this in my driveway? A good time to change the belt, and I keep reading about the belt tensioner fail. Advise please.
Belt cost? Water pump$

Bill Dearborn

At 66 years you are still young and in your prime. Changing the water pump isn't that hard. To remove the WP first remove the air duct so you have room to work, then remove the serpentine belt To remove the belt (purchase a long handled 15 mm box end or flex head wrench. The tensioner is right behind the ABS module and there isn't a lot of room to get a wrench on the head of the tensioner bolt. Then remove the air cleaner and the inlet air plumbing to the throttle body. Then you can remove the 6 bolts that hold the pump on and replace it or replace the gasket.

Wondering why you want to replace the radiator since the car is less than 10 years old, is it leaking? Also, why do you want to replace the stock hoses they should last 20+ years. My Tahoe is used as my Corvette tow vehicle and it has been towing Corvettes up and down the East Coast for the last 21 years with the same coolant hoses that were on it when I took delivery in December 2002. The hoses on my 15 Z06 look just fine and they are 9 years old.

Bill

Tinkertech

Always look at the inside of the hose not the outside.

This is the correct way to determine if the hose is going bad.

bankers1

To Answer your questions, my Chev dealer, while in for an oil change, suspected a leak of antifreeze in the front pass side of engine bay. I ordered a "Better" Bigger Rad from Mitsimoto. $ 800+/-. After I did the install, I STILL had a leak, it wasn't the Rad it was a 1/2" hose connection by the Air Filter. It was not the radiator at all. The "oversized" silicone hoses were an after thought, why not get some good color vs factory black in the engine bay. So the Rad, hoses and thermo have all been "Upgraded", No problems yet @ 58K, but, if I keep the Vette for a few more years, I know the water pump and the belt tensioner are regular goners, to be replaced.

hiltsy855

I'm 65 and just changed the water pump, belt tensioner, and radiator (upgraded from the '16 to '19). Take your time, it's not that difficult. Hands down the hardest part is getting the radiator separated from the A/C condenser.

bc928

Very good initial plan with good ideas on what else to replace since you are in that area. Replacing these things prescriptively is very solid. Just because they aren't old or brittle is no reason not to replace.

Goat 2 Vette

I wouldn't worry about that stuff. Preventative maintenance isn't replacing certain things that aren't having problems.. In that case, maybe get the tranny rebuilt? Change all the brake lines? Where does it end? Just drive it and enjoy it, if something breaks, then fix it.

bc928

When you take things off to get to other things, the only people that doesn't replace the things along the way (While you are in there) are stealership monkeys and people that don't understand how age, pressure, rubber and heat work together.

Not good advice, but play through just the same.

Goat 2 Vette

Moral of the story... Don't over think it!

Tinkertech

The only industry that replaces components regularly on a run time basis is mainly aircraft.

Tuff to 'pull over' at 35 thousand feet, especially over the pond!

Fix it when the appropriate time comes. ( broken, worn out or apparent durning an inspection ).

acroy

I'd not touch it unless it needs it. 2017, it's dam' near new