Labor day drama..?

[TGL]

We just drove our 89 Pathy 200 miles to a friend's house for Labor Day and when we got here the radiator fan assembly was weebing and wobbling on the front of the engine and making a disconcerting noise. When parked and engine off I took this video:
 

 

So the question is, can I drive it back 200 miles home or do I have to fix it before we leave? Is there a quick fix to get us going again? Thoughts?

[Slartibartfast]

Yeah, that's pretty bad. That water pump bearing has ceased to be. I'm surprised it's still holding coolant!

 

Unfortunately the water pump is behind the timing belt, so there's a fair bit of teardown required to get to it. It's doable in a driveway, provided nothing's seized/rusted solid, but you'll need a few tools, including a puller to get the balancer off, and the big socket (1-1/16 IIRC) for the crank bolt. And of course you'll need a new water pump. I'd order a bypass hose too--it may not survive removal, and should be replaced anyway. Do you know when the timing belt was done last? You'll have the belt off to get to the pump anyway, and if the pump died of old age, then the belt and its tensioner probably aren't far behind. (I recommend doing the cam and crank seals while you're in there--I skipped my crank seal and it started leaking as soon as I put it all back together.)

 

I've got an '89 service manual on Dropbox, EM section covers the belt job. 5523's writeup is for a VG33, but may also help. I used his method for setting belt tension over the fussy way the service manual wanted me to do it.

 

I would be tempted to try and macgyver something something to limp it home (maybe a 12v pump spliced into a rad hose, tstat/fan/belt removed, shorter belt for the alt, electric fan--basically abandon the pump in place), but I suspect it would end up being the same amount of work for something that might get you home.

 

Good luck! Hopefully it doesn't wreck your whole weekend.