I just pulled a d16y7 cylinder head (2000 hatch) that was warped and am going to swap on a refurbished head tomorrow am. I left the timing belt attached and just slid it over off the cam gear to the side to remove the head. I was curious and can not find a concrete answer if I can remove the lower timing cover and throw a new water pump on while Im in there (without removing the t-belt or messing with the tensioner). The t-belt is new OEM honda and in great shape (changed recently ~7500 miles ago), but the water pump I believe to be original (160k). I was looking at it, and I think I can get away with just unbolting the water pump and slipping it out and bolting up a new one. I have some slack in the belt if need be obviously b/c the head is not in the way but didnt know for sure

Thanks in advance.

 

I'm not sure what youre asking.

You can zip tie the belt to the cam gear but its still going to have slack around the crank.

So yeah, you need to remove the lower timing cover and replace the water pump and adjust the tensioner

 

^

 

who changed the belt?

 

why wouldnt you?

 

sorry, it wasn't clear. basically my question was, with the cylinder head off, and the t-belt still attached will I have enough slack on the timing belt that I will be able to remove the water pump without messing with the timing belt tensioner. I was trying to avoid messing with the belt b/c it was just changed, but I felt like it'd be ridiculous to not pop on a new water pump while its all apart.

 

yes, but you still need to remove the lower timing cover.

 

There is no cylinder head on your car.

You have to remove the lower timing cover to make sure everything is lined up correctly and the belt tensioner is adjusted correctly

The belt will fall off when you remove the lower timing cover since you have no cylinder head. So asking if you can remove the lower timing cover to remove the water pump if the belt has enough slack. Umm yeah the belt isnt being held on by anything so yeah you'll have plenty of slack

 

You should have released the tension on the belt before pushing it off of the cam pulley. An access hole is provided in the lower cover to reach the tensioner bolt to do this. It is no big deal to set the cam in time using the marks and then tension the belt.