My car was leaking coolant and I have since taken it to a local mechanic that my family uses, he told me that I will need to have my water pump replaced and also my timiming belt (he said they normally just replace that since it needs to be taken off anyways). I was quoted $450-$500 for the job.

My question is, can I do this myself? Are there any special tools involved? If so, my AutoZone rents tools, could I get it from them and successfully complete this job?

Thanks for any input!

 

Dear ThumperAC,
the replacement of water pump, or any timing belt job isn't easy stuff, specially if you are "mechanically challenged" at any point.
It requires the removal of power steering, alternator, loosing one of your engine mounts, a slight "lift" of the engine, and a lot of patience. If you haven't done this before, I would just watch the mechanic doing this time, and at some point in your future, you could use the knowledge gained from seeing somebody doing it to you if you ever decide to do it yourself.

 

I can't say that I removed the PS or alternator when doing a friends timing belt... the belts yes but not the actual unit themselves.

You will need to loosen the driver side engine mount to get the timing belt off. After the driver side mount is loosen you'll need to drop the engine just a little. A jack under the oil pan with a piece of wood will do the trick.

All that is the easy stuff IMO. I think the hardest part by far is removing the crankshaft pulley bolt. The bolt is torqued on at 181 lb/ft. The manual shows to use a special tool which I bought from The Tool Warehouse but others have done it other ways. Or you can have a shop loosen it and then tighten it up a bit so you can get back home. Then remove it and do the timing belt/water pump. Once the crankshaft pulley bolt is removed I feel it's all down hill from there.

It takes time so I would allow for an entire day if this is your first one. Get a quality manual (Helms Inc.), read it many times before and refer back to it often while doing the job.

Most of the job only requires a set of basic hand tools. But the crankshaft pulley will require some beefier tools (1/2" drive atleast) to remove.

If you do a search in the archives I know you'll find many threads about timing belt/water pump jobs. I have posted pictures of how I loosened the crankshaft pulley bolt and a link to the exact tool I bought. Others have described how they've done it. You'll also find things that people did that didb't work so well. So do some research and read as much as you can find. From that you should be able to determine if it's something you feel you can do or not.

In your searches you should also look for recommend parts to replace. Write the parts down and then go to the FAQ and find the online dealer sites and other sites that sell the OEM parts you'll need. Look at them and compare the prices. You're going to want to place an order with HAP, SLHonda, ect to help save some money over going to the local dealer (unless you know someone who can give you a discount).

 

Just did this job. Took best part of the day. Air impact wrench for the crank bolt, no problem. Alternator & PS pump out for clearance. Alignment of hte pulleys is critical. The marks on the balancer shaft are a bit tough to see. Check, recheck, rotate & re-recheck. Getting the tension right sounds easy (rotate back three teeth, lock down), but is a bit vague. Follow manual to the letter.

Pull spark plugs to ease rotating engine when aligning timing marks. For setting TDC, easiest way is to remove distributor cap, mark #1 wire's location so you know when you're @ TDC. A stick or long screwdriver down the #1 spark plug hole will let you know when the piston is at top, but make sure it is on the compression stroke (distributor).

For me the biggest pain was the tensioner nut. It was on like ten men. Had to heat it before it would budge, I was afraid it would break. So have a torch handy.

Parts: water pump, timing belt, balancer belt, tensioner pulleys, shop manual, valve cover gasket, alternator/AC belts while you're in there. extendable magnet to retrieve little nuts when they drop on the frame.

 

would a Haynes manual instead of a helms manual work just as good with this?

 

I did mine using Haynes manual, not very organized, lousy pictures, mixed in with the V6 motor, not very detailed. But cheap and got the job done.

I'd definitely use Helms from now on.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by Ihatecars &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">I did mine using Haynes manual, not very organized, lousy pictures, mixed in with the V6 motor, not very detailed. But cheap and got the job done.

I'd definitely use Helms from now on.</TD></TR></TABLE>

i was afraid of that. Was wondering if anyone has gotten one of these helms cds off ebay, it seems legit, but u you never know with ebay.

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors...ZWDVW