water pump

[pamsmith2112]

Got a leaking water pump on a 1997 suburu. People are telling me to change the timing bet too. Why?

Topic

[cliorider]

Hi there, coming to this millige myself so here it goes…

In order to reach and change the water pump you need to remove the timing belt

1. releasing and retensioning t-belt reduces its lifetime
2.the effort and time to remove the timing belt in order to reach and replace the water pump justifies replacing t-belt so you wont have to do it again soon

[John B Kobberstad]

Quoted From pamsmith2112:

Got a leaking water pump on a 1997 suburu. People are telling me to change the timing bet too. Why?

Because it may be an interference engine (I’m not sure) and with the labor involved in the pump change might as well save the labor cost and the chance of the belt breaking and having to replace an engine. If it’s an interference engine and the belt goes you may loose the engine. Cheap insurance put the belt on is what I would do. I was lucky, on my 1996 Neon, which has an interference engine, blew the water pump and all the coolant so it couldn’t be driven. Thd to tow it home. Fortunately the belt didn’t break when the water pump was destroyed (not just a small leak in it a big hole) everything was kept together. Had the belt broken my engine would have been destroyed. Needless to say, with the new water pump went a new timing belt.

[dreamer2355]

Preventive maintenance C8-)

[Matt]

The timing belt will come off when you replace the water pump if it’s under the timing cover and driven by the timing belt, and as Dreamer said, it’s great preventative maintenance.

[ytram]

And while you are at it, do not neglect to check timing belt tensioner for wear. If it spins to freely, change it.

[Matt]

If you don’t have service history on the timing belt, then you should DEFINITELY replace it, in my opinion.

[EricTheCarGuy]

The short answer is that you’ll have the belt in your hand when you change the water pump since the water pump is driven by the timing belt and considering that timing belts are a maintenance item it’s kind of a no brainer. As stated above you should also consider replacing the tensioner and I’d also recommend replacing the drive belts since you’ll need to remove those as well to get to the water pump.

[sirwilliam]

So let’s say I don’t have history of a timing belt replacement. Is there a way to know for sure if the belt was changed without any mechanic paper record?

Simply checking should do the trick?

Sorry I jumped in with questions.

[EricTheCarGuy]

Quoted From sirwilliam:

So let’s say I don’t have history of a timing belt replacement. Is there a way to know for sure if the belt was changed without any mechanic paper record?

Simply checking should do the trick?

Sorry I jumped in with questions.

Many times the drive belts are replaced along with the timing belt, you need to take them off to get to it in the first place, so if you see dry rotting on the drive belts or they look like they haven’t been changed in a while it’s a good indication that the timing belt hasn’t been changed either.

[Author]

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