Timing Belt/Water Pump Change Out

Just did a timing belt change (as well as the water pump) this weekend on my 2000 with the 3.2L. If you have never done this before, all of the guys on here that say it will take a whole day are not lying. Holy cow!! The engineers that designed this thing should be shot! Spent an hour trying to find the last bolt holding the cover on the passenger side (it's hidden behind the tensioner pulley). After taking a few shots of liquid courage, I managed to remove the old belt and successfully put the new one on properly.

A couple of tips if you plan on doing this yourself anytime soon:
1. Listen to the advice of the guys on here that know what they are talking about.
2. Make sure you mark where you remove each and every bolt. (finally figured out after about an hour that one of the long bolts that holds the driver side cover on also goes through to the water pump)
3. Buy good quality products because you don't want to have to do this again anytime soon!!!!
4. A Haynes manual is a good reference to have as well.

Thanks to all of you guys out there that have posted your mechanical knowledge on here. I think I can speak for all of us shade tree guys when I say you have helped save us a lot of money. Thanks again!!:smile:

Thanks for the post. The second gen Rodeos are a little bit harder to do that the first gen. Mainly because of the power steering pump being in the way, IIRC.

How many miles did you have on the belt, and what did the old belt look like?

I bought the Rodeo with 50K miles and don't think the belt had been changed. I changed the belt at 129K and it looked almost brand new. Go figure!!!! I was getting worried about it breaking!!!!!