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Hi my waterpump gave up the ghost today fortunately no damage was done to the engine however my question is do i need to take off the timing belt to change out the pump. I have been advised that its a good idea as most of the work will already be done however i have a friend who is doing it and he is ok with doing the pump but not so sure over the belt.

I have looked through the forum and i seen a post about this although the links were not valid.

Can you get the pump done without doing the timing belt? Yes.

However, the reason it's advised to do at the same time is you already have all the timing covers and and tensioner brackets and such off. Why do all that work twice?

Hi thanks for the reply thats the info i needed i appreciate the input the belt doesnt need doing anyway it was only done 20K ago and mazda say 60K plus i need it back on the road asap. Thanks for the advice.

Ok so i have now been advised to change the belt as well even though its only done 20K. I was told i might need a cam belt kit or two idle pullies and a tensioner. I got a price for these from Mazda and nearly fell out of my chair £700 quid. Then Mazda said i probably didnt need to change them anyway. So my question is how difficult is it to get the belt off? i see that a SST tool is specified do i really need this? How difficult is the timing to do? and what will happen if its not spot on? A friend of mine is of the opinion if the timing is not completely accurate we will end up breaking things. If so how accurate is accurate and how can we achieve this bearing in mind we have limited tools.

i'd recommend changing the belt also if you're planning on keeping the car and that engine in there for another 40k miles or so, otherwise eff it, if it isnt broken why fix it. just my opinion

You probably don't need the pulleys. If you do, the kit with the pulleys and belt is $150 USD from a US supplier. The hydraulic belt tensioner is what usually needs replacing, and that's another $160 USD for a Mazda brand one.

You won't damage the car if the belt is off. It'll still run if it's off a tooth. But the proper procedure is to double check the timing marks after setting so you know right away if you're off. I don't know why you'd reinstall everything knowing the timing is still off.

And you don't need a SINGLE SST in the manual. All tools that you NEED are standard tools available at most auto parts store in the U.S.

yes change the belt.. my engine is at around 37k miles and there already are belt "dust" inside the covers... eee

Hi thanks for all the advice ill let you know how it goes i have got a new pump and belt and tensioner and will be doing this saturday.

Cheers

Well we ran into a major snag we couldnt get the crankshaft pulley bolt undone even with it in gear and foot on brake and the plugs out it wouldnt budge!

Without the "special" tool that holds the pulley while loosening the bolt you can remove either the starter or flywheel inspection plate and use a crow bar inserted into one of the flywheel teeth against the bell housing. I got mine off that way.
PS it helps to have an extra set of hands, one to hold and one to loosen.