Idler Pulley workaround

[BluesBoy005]

Hello everyone, replacing the water pump in my 98 SSEi has become one of the must frustrating things I've ever done. I have one bolt that is unable to come out because the idler pulley is blocking it. The engine mount is then blocking the idler pulley. For the love of god, is there any way to avoid having to take the engine mount off to get to the idler pulley? The haynes and chilton guides said nothing about this. I really hope this something that is fixed in later models of the car because it is the most counter intuitive, poorly engineered engine I have ever seen.

Sorry about my rant, but I'd really appreciate it if anyone knows of a workaround. The idler pulley looks like it is on a bracket which is bolted to the engine. Will that remove the pulley itself?

Thanks in advance!

[nbro3546]

I had to do the idler pulley not too long ago and this is how I did it. Get a floor jack with a block of wood to hold up the motor. Next get the bolt out of the mount so the engine can be jacked up or down (wherever you need it). This should give enough wiggle room to take the pulley/belt off. Good Luck! This was my nightmare for a few days lmfao

[MattStrike]

So I'm using the '86 LG3 mounts - 4 corners.

I don't have that problem. I also don't have problems with breaking motor mounts, so no good reason for GM to switch to the torque axis mount IMO.

I now have two reasons to use the LG3 mounts - Changing the belts and now changing the water pump! <- If you have an arc welder, this is the ultimate work-around. Modify the trans and engine mount on the passenger side from an LG3 to fit. It took me about 30 minutes to do so.

Torque axis mount = fail.

But yes, support the oil pan (with wood block to distribute the weight) and remove the torque axis mount bolt first. That should work.