FJ60 Water Pump Replacement Page 1
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I undertook the water pump replacement project in March of 2004. Unfortunately, I was using my Landcruiser as a commuting vehicle at that time, so the whole experience had the added pressure of needing to be at work the next day.
My goal was to do the replacement without having to take off too many parts. However, in order to remove some of the hoses, I needed decent access to the underside of the engine compartment, where the skid plate covers. So here's a shot of the first step: removing the skid plate. This is as straight-forward as it gets — unscrew the bolts, and remove the plate.
After removing the skid plate, you have relatively easy access to the drain plug on the radiator. Replacing the water pump is a good time to drain and replace the radiator fluid. Also, if you don't drain the fluid, your project will be quite messy.
Here is a clearer shot of the drain plug. This is from the perspective of underneath the front of the car, looking up where the skid plate used to be.
And here is what happens when you pull the plug. Make sure you have a container large enough to hold all of the radiator fluid. Also — and I should have mentioned this earlier — you probably want to do this after the engine has had a chance to cool down. The coolant system is under pressure when it's hot, so you don't want to drain it then. Also, you don't want to handle hot radiator fluid.
Next I remove the fan cowling. This is somewhat tricky because of the bolt locations. Notice I'm using a fairly long helper on the ratchet.
Another picture of removing the fan cowling. It sits between the radiator and the engine. The water pump and fan clutch are exposed once the cowling is removed.
Of course, no do it yourself FJ60 repair would be complete without an ice-cold Pabst Blue Ribbon.