1997 Pontiac Sunfire GT 2.4 leaky water pump

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1997 PONTIAC SUNFIRE
4 CYL
FWD
AUTOMATIC
137,000 MILES

1997 Pontiac Sunfire GT 2.4 Twin Cam mileage: 137,000. My 97 Sunfire GT (just off warranty) with the 2.4L Twin Cam engine has developed a leaky water pump. What are the proper steps in replacing the pump? The pump is hidden under the exhaust manifold from above and hidden by the transaxle and steering rack underneath. It appears that the exhaust manifold should be removed for best access to the pump. If so, do I need new exhaust gaskets? Many of the gaskets on the car such as the transmission pan are of the reusable type. Besides, of the few parts stores I found that actually can get the pump, none even list the exhaust gaskets. I've done a lot of water pumps in my life, but this application is completely different engineering from what I'm used to.

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Some engines do not have exhaust manifold gaskets, some do. If your car is equipped with exhaust manifold gaskets and you cannot find them at the local parts house, you may have to purchase them at the dealership. In order to answer the rest of your question, we would have to spend an inordinate amount of time, which we do not have considering the thousands of questions we get each week. A Mitchell, Chilton, Haynes, dealer auto repair manual or a specialty repair book for your make of car will have step-by-step instructions so you can judge for yourself the difficulty based on your level of experience.