Water Pump Woes

It appears my water pump has died. How hard is it to replace on a 97 sport?

If you don't know figure 4 hours. Ahead of time get a NEW water pump, not a rebuilt, carquest makes a decent one. I would recommend you pick up the following:
Water pump
Serpentine belt
Idler pulley
Hoses, all of them, upper and lower plus the two heater hoses.
OEM Thermostat w/gasket
OEM 16lb pressure cap
2 gallons of Prestone or texaco green antifreeze
2 gallons of DISTILLED water from the supermarket [cheaper there than the parts store]
1 bottle of Indian Head gasket cement made by Permatex, comes in a little bottle.
Drain pan for the old collant
Couple of towels
Prestone 7 hour flush if the pump is not too far gone
Step one: Drain the system and refill with water, add the flush, drive it the recommended time, drain the system again.
Step two: remove the hoses, upper and lower, unbolt the fan from the water pump and remove it, remove the fan shroud, remove the electric fan and set it aside, there are TWO releases on the electric plug so don't break it because it won't come apart, look at it and figure it out.
Step three: Loosen the idler pulley bolt under the power steering pump but don't remove it yet.
Step four: Look at the PS pump bracket, there is a bolt head that is all by it's lonesome, that move that idler pulley up and down to loosen or tighten it, use a long extension to loosen the pulley adjustment, take care not to break the temp sender on the thermostat housing.
Step 5: Remove the belt and note it's routing, make a drawing if you have to. Remove the idler pulley.
Step 6: The front of the engine should be open now, you can start to unbolt the water pump, once you get all those bolts out reach under the power steering pump bracket behind where that idler pulley was and feel for a bracket that goes back to the block. There is a bolt there, remove that bolt, that will allow you to move the PS pump bracket out of the way for reassembly, if you don't do this make sure to buy a half dozen extra water pump gaskets as you try to sneak it back together [experience talking here on a sunday afternoon at 4pm]...
Step 7: Remove the studs on the old water pump and install them on the new one.
Step 8: Remove all the rest of the hoses and the thermostat housing,
Step 9: Use a garden hose to wash out the block now that the pump is off then use a towel to remove ANY standing water still in there around the cylinders, you will be able to see them by the way. If you have a floor jack you can jack up the back end a foot or so and it will run out. Get the area dry.
Step 10: Take the new pump and put a very thin coat of indian head around the sealing area of the pump and put the gasket on, let it dry for a few minutes then coat the other side of the gasket that will go against the block and let that sit a few till it's tacky, Stick the pump back on exercising care not to nick the gasket against that power steering pump bracket. Start putting the bolts back in but don't torque yet. Pay attention to the order they came out in, they are not all the same length. Once you have the bolts back in, the front of the power steering bracket too you can tighten them to specs. Once they are tight put that one that goes in the back of the PS pump bracket back on and snug it up.
Reassembly is in the reverse order from there. You do have to put the fan shroud back on first then the fan/fan clutch assembly.
I suggest going OEM dealer for the parts because they fit and the heater hoses are prebent with the correct diameters on both ends.
NOTE: 5-90 has a better solution for that riser pipe that comes off the water pump using plumbing supply parts that make life much easier. On my first one I went to the dealer for a new one, on my second I used his solution.
Thats about all I can think of, I'm in a hurry, we need a new washing machine due to my son not understanding that his WHOLE full laundry hamper does not go in the washing machine at one time....so it's off to sears..

NOTE 2: If you reuse that riser pipe pay attention to which way it points, remove it and reinstall it on the new pump BEFORE you put the new pump back on. I sanded the one I reused and repainted it with engine paint so it would not rust so fast.. I also painted the new one too, when I used johns method I did not paint that.

It took about 4 hours including running to 3 different parts stores to get the power steering pump and water pump and pulley remover kit. The work was not bad even with the pulley on the power steering pump with no vice. The fan shroud was very brittle and broke off how crucial is a replacement?

What ?!?!?!? you don't need to pull anything, the PS pump stays right where it's at. The only thing that has to come off the water pump is the 4 studs and they unscrew using two of the nuts as jam nuts. All ya need is a vise to hold the pump to remove the studs and remove the metal tube for the heater hose then swap pumps in the vise, reinstall the tube and then put the studs in, thats it.

Well my pwr steering pump was bad anyway so I jus decided to replace it because it was loose anyway.