Water Pump/Timing Belt hints for GTV6

[shane wescott]

Hi Guys

Thought I would share some of my experience with this "simple" job. I have always help that the best way to learn something was to have lots of hassles with it so you have to think things through and potentially build and rebuild things.

So here are some hints from my recent job replacing the Water pump on my GTV6. In hindsight dropping it into a garage for an expert to do would have been easier and quicker, but you learn nothing doing that.

Here we go:

1. If the water pump goes you need to remove the timing belt, so a good time to do this job as well.

2. I removed the radiator (one bolt a few clamps and a few wires) to give better access. I also removed the bonnet (make sure you mark it first). I took out the bonnet bols which go into the car, not the bonnet and it went straight back on in the right place.

3. After much frustration I also removed the aircon compressor as I dont use it or need it and it was in the way.

VERY IMPORTANT

4. Take note of the lenght of the water pump bolts and where they came from. There are two lengths. 30mm and around 25 mm. The longs ones are in their positions for a reason. If you do happen to stuff this up (like I did) you can always get some 30mm HT bolts from Bunnings (like I did). Especially the three long ones which hold the Alternator to the engine.

5. The gasket from the old pump will probably be hard to get off. I bought some gasket removal spray and used a sharp chisel and it cleaned up nicely.

6. Attach the old thermostat housing to the new water pump BEFORE you put the new water pump back on. The bolts are a pain to put on if the water pump is already bolted on.

7. Use a gasket cement as well as the new gasket. Locktite aviation is my choice here.

8. Before removing the timing belt follow the instructions in your favorite manual. MAKE SURE YOU MARK THE POSITION OF THE DISTRIBUTOR COG. It is the only one with out marks on it. It is not neccessary to remove the Disti cog to remove the water pump - I didn't.

9. For non experts like me it is also necessary to remove the Rocker/cam covers.

10. While you have the rocker/cam covers off check the rubber gaskets which go around the spark plug hole. Mine were more like bakelite than rubber, were very crunchy, and didnt taste that good. The new ones were nice and soft and should stop all leaks.

Now for the fun bit getting the timing belt back on, I estimate I spent al least 5 hours on this bit :-(

1. You should have the motor on top dead centre for no 1 cylinder. The point should be lined up with the "p" timing mark on the crank shaft, and both cams should have their timing marks lined up, and the disti should be pointing to no 1 cylinder.

2. Our friend the tensioner, I know him well (now). My engine has had the port in the engine welded up probably to stop leaks. The tensioner has a spring behind it and a spring in the front. There is one fixed bolt/nut, and a bolt /nut which fits into a curved slot for adjustment. The tensioner must be on the engine before you fit the belt, can't do it the other way, tried that didnt work.

3. On my engine when you push the tensioner flat on the engine it is impossible to move the adjustable bolt right to the end of the slot, making it impossible to fit the belt, no matter how much you grunt groan or swear.

4. There is a 7mm hole in the frotnn of the tensioner, and a 5mm hole behind. This is for a special alfa tool to slacken the tensioner. If you dont have the tool you can make one from a 5mm drill bit and a small flat screwdriver jammed into the front on top of the 5mm drill bit.

5. Put the rear spring in place and hold the tensioner such that the adjustable bolt is at the far right of the curved slot. You now need to press on the tensioner and lock it in place with the two nuts with out pushing it all the way back as the bolt will move to the left, and you wont get the belt on. I used a mirror to check position once I worked out this gem of information.

6. You should now be able to fit the belt. (wooo hoo) Start the belt on the crankshaft teeth, pull it tight onto the right hand cam pulley, across the top tight to the left cam pulley, down to the disti pulley and around the tensioner. Make sure you keep the left side of the belt tight with your left hand as the belt likes to jump and you need to start again.

7. The trick here, is to only put it on the pulley about 1/4 inch or so, not the full width. Once you have the new belt on you can gradually push it on a little at a time and eventualy it will be all on.

8. Check double check and recheck that the belt is fully tight, the pointer points to the "p" mark on the crank and the cam markers are aligned, and the disti pulley is in the original position. Remember if you misalign things valves can bang into pistons and stuff so not a good look.

9. Now if your hole in the motor is blocked like mine, dont tension the belt super tight. The job of the hydrolic part of the tensioner is to DETENSION the belt, so wth no detensioning you dont want to max out the tension on the belt (thanks to Bruno for this info

10. Dont forget the spring on the front of the tensioner which hooks onto a post near the crank shaft secured by a little circlip.

All in all the Water pump is the easy part. It is all the other things you need to do that make it a larger job.

So thats it, my beasty is now back on the road and purring. It has a new water pump, new timing belt, and new rubber spark plug seals.

Catch ya

Shane

[branko.gt]

good posting Shane! Thanks for that !