Timing Belt & Water Pump
A "rotating" noise from the front end every morning got worse.. and since it had been six years and 100,000km, I figure I might as well try and change the timing belt. When I got in, I found that noise. Clearly, the water pump was going to be part of this job!
At one point, I removed the camshaft pulley to replace the seal behind it. I bought a special tool to remove the balance shaft sprockets as one of them was so tight, ordinary "make-do" methods didn't help. During assembly, I used a torque wrench on all the fasteners. I also cleaned parts and block areas with Varsol (mineral spirits).
I eventually went and bought a 4' piece of black pipe to use on the end of the breaker bar as leverage (to do so, I worked from the top of the car). Now, I know. You can see the second mini-jack in back holding up the starter; I bought the flywheel lock and installed that so I can remove the Crank Nut.
Overall, a pretty neat job to take on. Lots of waiting for parts orders though!
Overall, a pretty neat job to take on. Lots of waiting for parts orders though!