Time for major maintainence

Len Lewin · Post by **Len Lewin** » August 3rd, 2006, 12:07 pm

I have a '93 GS V6 all stock with 165,000 km. This timing belt has 95,000 on it so its time for a change. This car is used to get me to work every day.

If I try and do the work myself, it could be painfully slow as I'm not that good with figuring out stuff. And I can't have the car disabled for too long. I know its going to cost a lot to have a mechanic do it, but at least it gets done in a day.

On reading some posts in the forum, it seems the clutch can give problems as well. Maybe this seems like a silly question but since its such a pain to change the timing belt, should I just have the mechanic pull the engine and do the clutch and timing belt all at the same time?

The water pump and tensioner were changed last time. Should I get them replaced again? Thanks

state_red · Post by **state_red** » August 3rd, 2006, 1:45 pm

If you're not good with doign stuff like this yourself and this car is your daily driver, you'll probably want to get this stuff done by the mechanic or else you'll likely be bussing to work for a few days.

Water pumps are cheap, about $60 for an OEM pump... They usually replace water pumps and timing belts together, cause to do either you have to take the same stuff off, and because your V6 is transversely mounted, the process of taking off the pulleys, belts, mounts and overs is quite a pain in the a--. So if you've put any significant milage on the waterpump, I'd go ahead and replace it with the timing belt, or else you'll just end up paying another mechanic again to do it later on. Altenator and water pump belts are $20 each and also should be placed if there's any significant milage on them, but your pulleys and tensioners should likely be alright.

Maybe this seems like a silly question but since its such a pain to change the timing belt, should I just have the mechanic pull the engine and do the clutch and timing belt all at the same time?

Uhh, these really aren't related. Fixing your timing belt and pump have nothing to do with the clutch. Replacing a clutch is a whole other ball of worms...

FlyVFR · Post by **FlyVFR** » August 3rd, 2006, 1:47 pm

I always have the water pump replaced with a brand new one when changing the timing belt. It's not worth the labor if it fails between belt changes.

BTW you may want to get a timing belt kit. Includes tensioner and 2 pulleys.

The clutch depends on how much pedal is left. If it grabs near the bottom it's probably in good shape. Conversly, if it grabs near the top of pedal travel chances are it will need replacement soon.