Hi I have a 98 lx that recently started loosing coolent. It is coming from the timing belt side of the engine, I suspect the water pump. Could it be something else? Just wanted to check before I start tearing into it. No overheating or anything just visable leaking. Thanks so much!

 

Well, there isn't much else there that it could be leaking out of, so yes, it's your water pump or gasket. Time to do a full timing belt job.

 

Thanks so much man, just wanted to be sure. Wish me luck

 

You don't need luck, it's a pretty easy procedure. You can follow the DIY in my build thread if you need help with it.

 

Nice DIY! Thanks.

Quick question about reinstalling the crankshaft pulley bolt: The manual shows something about tightening to 14 lbs/ft then another 90 degrees, which does not make sense (6-16). Should I just crank it down to 130 lbs / ft?

 

No, it's using the old school method of a quarter turn also known as 90 degrees.

You torque it to 14 foot pounds then, you put your breaker bar on it (don't use your torque wrench for this part) and put a mark at the top of the bolt (12 o'clock) and a mark at 3 o-clock on the pulley. Now turn that bolt so the mark on the bolt aligns with the mark at 3 o'clock on the pulley. That is a quarter turn and was the method used for ages before everything was a specific torque. You will find it will likely be over 120 ft-lbs to get that quarter turn completed and why you don't destroy your torque wrench trying to do the quarter turn.

 

Oh, I wondered about that. That is a cool trick to get the proper torque without a torgue wrench.

Update: I finished the water pump and timing belt, and everything works fine. It was pretty easy, just time consuming. The FAQ writup was really helpful. Thanks so much guys!