
Today I decided to do the timing belt and water pump job as the pump has had a slow leak for a few months that I thought was solely coming from the coolant flange. I did the flange and then found out the pump was also leaking and have been dreading doing it. Leak has got to the point where about half the coolant leaks in about 15-20 minutes so I can no longer put the job off as I have to commute for work. Problem is that its snowing with single digit temps and I'm in a lot of pain from my job plus spending hours on this job back to back. When this job goes smooth, its gravy work for most mechanics, but if you are a DIYer and something goes wrong, its gonna be an huge headache and I don't recommend this job unless you are somewhat advanced in your automotive knowledge and have all the tools to do so. If you get the timing wrong, it could be good bye to your engine so make sure whatever you do you get that right.
To say its been frustrating is an understatement.
My bumper well bolts were already broken so it made taking off the bumper cover, removing crash bar and impact braces, and setting the front carrier into the service position relatively easy and was feeling great. I saw a video that showed if you remove the electrical connectors from the head lights, and a few coolant hoses, you could basically remove the entire front carrier and have more room to work. I did this and the extra space was nice, but its not 100% needed and can be done without doing so. Well all of my electrical connectors were extremely brittle and ended having to break the tabs to get them off. I spent over an hour using picks to no success before eventually getting them off. I then had to remove the aux radiator pipes that were held on with hose clamps and they also were basically melted on, followed by the AC lines that run into the condenser. There are some power steering lines that run in front of the condenser too, but I had cushion supporting the carrier so not much tension was on the power steering lines and didnt have to remove them.
I get to the timing cover and there are no marks. No problem, I had to look up and line the TINY marks on the crank gear and cam gear to get it to TDC and then I marked the cam, crank, and even made a mark on my water pump too for good measure.
I go to remove the Crank pulley and get 5/6 bolts off. I have an 2005.5 so mine had sockethead allen bolts that were CIRCULAR, meaning if it stripped, you won't have a secondary fastener to get them off, which is BEYOND idiotic. They even make the 10mm bolts that secure the water pump this way, why can't they do the same for crank pulley? This is was the one time that I wish they were triple square and see why they updated them later in the generation.
I then took about 4 hours hammering in different fasteners to no success. I even tried using a drill bit and EZ out to no success, the only other thing I haven't done is a turbo socket, but the 19mm crank bolt and the hex bolt are like 1mm apart and the wall of a socket is too wide to fit flush on the bolt. I've tried every kind of extractor that I have, I even tried putting vice grips on the bolt and cranked it down as tight as it goes and nothing. I personally think that it either is the original bolts from 20 years ago or someone did the job and way over torqued and or used an impact to put everything back on.
When I bought my vehicle, I was told that the water pump had not been done yet, however it had the contitech sticker in my door sill stating the timing belt was done at 75,000, meaning they either did a timing belt and water pump job or just a timing belt, which seems weird as you usually do them at the same time because of the inaccessibility of the job. My carfax says timing has been done, but not water pump specifically so thats what I am assuming to be true.
I ended up installing a new water pump, but kept the timing belt. I know you ideally don't do this, but I have to make it to work and I might just pay someone to extract that bolt for me as I dont have an air chisel or anything that high powered enough. I already have the belt and have done the job once and know what to expect. I assume I have 25,000k before I have to swap the belt as I am at 125k. I carefully took the water pump off and replaced it with a new one while keeping the Cam and Crank in time. After reinstallation, I turned the engine over several times with a ratchet to ensuring timing stayed on point and it did, which was the biggest thing I was scared about and had never done before.
Right after I retightened the timing belt tensioner, I dropped the 10mm nut that holds it on and it fell in the bottom the radiator/front carrier and never was able to get it back, so now I have to wait until tomorrow to get a nut and reinstall all the hoses, connectors, bolts. I still think I have about 2 hours of work tomorrow, but it does feel good to have this job mostly fixed.
I obviously don't recommend just doing one of the jobs, but if you find yourself in a situation like me where your crank pulley bolts are stripped and can't remove them, the timing belt is still in good shape, but your water pump has failed and is leaking, this can be a solution but just know that you will need take the front end off again to do the timing belt again sooner than if you would have just replaced both at once.
I think by the end of this, I will have spent 12 hours on the job. If nothing would have stripped and connectors came off easier, I would have finished this job in under 4-6 hours in which the book estimates.
This also gives me chance to source some triple square bolts for the crank pulley so I dont have another allen strip out on me.
Hopefully I will hit the lottery and never have to do this job ever again. I've done one water pump and one flange so have got 2 of the hardest services out of the way nearly.
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