New water pump needed with cam/timing belt replacement?

Tony1979 · Post by **Tony1979** » 13 Jun 2013, 11:58

I have been told by a work colleague that it is imperative that you replace the water pump when you replace the cam and or timing belts, I'm not so bought on this, what do all you lot think?!

Post by **jpr0204** » 13 Jun 2013, 12:27

Tony1979,

It's not "law" that you replace the water pump when doing a t-belt replacement. No, you don't have to.

HOWEVER, it is strongly recommended. Think about it this way, Why would you want to spend 2.5 to 3 hours replacing the timing belt and put it all back together just to have the water pump start leaking coolant say a week later and then you would have to tear it all back apart again to replace the pump?

Along with the water pump, I would like to recommend replacement of the timing belt tensioner, timing belt idler pulley, front camshaft seals, and front crankshaft seal.

I say this becuase again, whos to say that in a week or two's time the seals wont start leaking oil if they haven't already?

9 times out of 10 it's not the timing belt itself that breaks, it's usually the tensioner going bad that can't keep tension on the belt or an idler pulley seizing up.

If any of the above breaks, MUCHO $ and time to fix.

Not worth the risk in my opinion. Just buy a complete kit with all the parts in it and your good to go for another 105K worry free miles.

- Joe

Tony1979 · Post by **Tony1979** » 13 Jun 2013, 13:05

A no brainer then really!

Many thanks Joe

Post by **jpr0204** » 13 Jun 2013, 13:15

Anytime...

- Joe

benrk · Post by **benrk** » 13 Jun 2013, 17:48

I think it depends on wether you do the work yourself or have a shop doing it.
I haven't heard of a shop agreeing to doing the belt only, since the labor is the biggest cost of the job they always do all other parts that could go bad & require the same work to be done again.
If you do it yourself, it's up to you wether you want to take the risk of possibly tearing everything apart twice in a short time, the tensioner, as mentioned here before, is pretty much a no go in terms of skipping, the idler pulley is risky but can be skipped since it usually makes noises before it completely fails.

On a car that I value & want to keep for more than 1 year, I'd always throw a complete kit in, even doing the work myself, on beaters for a few $100 that I didn't intend to keep long I have done the belt only if it looked too worn & tensioner & pulley were still in good condition.

Greetz, Ben

Tony1979 · Post by **Tony1979** » 23 Jun 2013, 01:51

How much on average would you reckon it would cost for all the belts, tensioners, water pump etc to be done by a shop? I'm thinking lots and lots of £££££!

Post by **xHeart** » 23 Jun 2013, 08:07

Tony1979 wrote:How much on average would you reckon it would cost for all the belts, tensioners, water pump etc to be done by a shop? I'm thinking lots and lots of £££££!

I paid USD850 for the timing belt and water pump to a volvo shop in 2010. That was the last repair bill. I am a DIYer ever since, but some say RMS is even harder and costly.

Here is the mother of all instruction, similar to what you will do DIY: 1998 VOlvo S70 Timing Belt....

Post by **coflynn** » 24 Jun 2013, 15:31

FWIW: When I had a Volvo shop change my belt, I asked about the water pump. They said they rarely saw them fail, and thought it was a waste of (my) money.

Post by **xHeart** » 24 Jun 2013, 18:39

coflynn wrote:FWIW: When I had a Volvo shop change my belt, I asked about the water pump. They said they rarely saw them fail, and thought it was a waste of (my) money.

Coflynn shares cn90's view, it is said to last 200k-mi, a lifetime.
Many have argued in favor of replacement, reasoning "value of time and labor" is far greater price to pay, hence HEPU/$50 or AISIN/$70 is a bearable cost.

auburneduprof · Post by **auburneduprof** » 26 Jun 2013, 15:45

You can buy, on ebay, a kit for $125. that includes the belt, pullies, tensioner and water pump. The cheapest my local (and very honest) repair place could get it for was $250. They then charged me $300. labor. It's certainly not something, especially given the interrupting valve situation, that I would feel capable of doing myself, but then I have limited mechanical skills and am old enough to have screwed a lot of stuff up and ended up paying someone else to do it anyway...