water pump

[talontsi26]

I need to replace my water pump and i was wondering if it is really necessary to remove the timing belt. Is there any way that i can avoid taking of the timing belt?....92 talon tsi....

[gthompson97]

first of all, DON'T post 2 different threads that are 4 minutes apart, you could have put it all in one or at least another post in your first thread. and yes, you have to remove the timing belt to replace the water pump, the timing belt drives the water pump.

[joemathews]

Yes, you must remove the timing belt in order to do the water pump/water pump gasket, because the timing belt does indirectly turn the pump pulley.

Are you positive the problem is your water pump? Have you looked into other overheating solutions?

[kjewer1]

The timing belt does not drive the water pump on turbo motors. It does drive the oil pump. The alternator belt also turns the waterpump pulley, which has the piggy back pulley for the power steering pump. I believe the 2g NT motors do drive the pump from the tbelt though, not sure.

At any rate, the belt is in the way and has to be removed to get to the water pump. This is why one should always replace the water pump when doing a tbelt job If the tbelt parts are due for replacement anyway (every 60k), now is the time. You have to decide if you are up to that task or not. If its not close to 60k on those parts, follow these directions (at your own risk )


Zip tie the belt to each cam gear (in 2 places) so it cant change its postion on the teeth, and mark the belt at the crank sprcket (with a light colored marker, white out, light colored nail polish also works, etc) so you can line that back up. Start with everything at TDC (all marks lined up) just for good measure. IF you dont touch the 14mm bolt on the tensioner pulley you wont have to retension the belt. Instead, remove the 2 12mm bolts in the tensioner and remove that. When you go to reinstall, compress that tensioner very slowly in a vise (dont force it), stick a 050 allen wrench (common in most sets) in the holes to hold it (grenade pin stylee), and reinstall with the 12mm bolts. Tension will be where you left it. If it was already bad, you can atempt to redo it if you like. To check before removal, measure the gap between the tensioner body and the tensioner arm. Spec is .15 to .18 inches. A pair of dial calipers work the balls. If you dont have a set, see if a 5/32nds drill bit does fit in the gap, and a 3/16ths doesnt. If thats the case, tension is good (be sure all marks are lined up at TDC etc). If the car still has balance shafts, which is most likely, you also need the oil pump sprocket (bottom right as you look at the tbelt end of the motor) to line up as well with its mark, AND be in phase.

After the water pump is changed (takes about 2 minutes), route the belt around everything again taking care to line up the oil pump sprocket with its mark (and in phase, see vfaq), and the line you drew on the belt with the matching line on the sprocket. Resinstall the tensioner as described above, and pull the pin. Give it 5 minutes to expand and settle, and the marks should all still line up. Cut the zip ties, rotate the motor clockwise several revolutions lining the marks back up, wait 5 minutes again, and use the drill bits or calipers to check the gap (tension) again. If all the marks are aligned, and the drill bit test passes, drive that bitch on.

Read the entire tbelt vfaq a couple times so you at least know how all this works and what you are dealing with. If you follow my instuctions, it will be waaay easier and less risky than doing the tbelt yourself if you havent dont it before and/or arent comfortable doing something so critical. If you hose something, you have the vfaq handy to do a tbelt job.

I can't believe how much there is to type for this, and I'm keeping it short. I'm sure it seems a bit overwhelming to someone that hasnt done this a hundred times. Go step by step, be smart, use your head, open your eyes, understand the vfaq, and have the few tools you need to do it available, and anyone can do this. I would also check www.roadraceengineering.com, there is a tech article on there somewhere on how to change cams using the "RRE method" that will help explain the concept of what I decribed above perhaps.

Good luck