water pump replacement question

[latkins09]

Ii need to change the waterpump on my 99 gst I know I have to take off the timing belt pully to get the waterpump but the question is can I take it off in put it back on the same way. Iv read a lot of threads and they all say the timing belt needs to be completely removed instead of just pushed to the side. Once I unbolt the pulley and put it back on can I just bolt it In in the same position I took it off in ? Or do I need to bolt it in and use something to put tension on the belt. The timing belt and pulleys are still fairly new

 

[Bergness08]

It Can be done by just pushing the timing belt to the side. Not saying it's the best way. But, I had to do a water pump in a hurry and didn't want to take the belt off so I pushed it to the side. I used two binder clips on each cam to hold the belt on, and then a long zip tie to hold the "middle" of the belt tight. (So it wouldn't fall off of the crank and oil pump). It worked good, just check your timing afterwords.

 

[rydereclipse]

Is the crux of your situation to avoid having to reset/realign the timing marks?

If you are taking off the tensioner pulley, which will extend the automatic tensioner arm requiring it to be reset anyway, then the answer you seek about pulling the belt to the side is a no, regarding just "rebolting" the pulley back on, IMO.

If you are refering to just trying to keep from having to re-align the timing marks, then as the previous poster mentioned, you can "clip" the belt to the cam sprockets to keep it from moving, but I would still be sure that the engine was at TDC first.

The way it sounds is that you just got an expensive timing belt job done, but didnt do the water pump at the same time, and now are looking for a "shortcut" to get it done.

Not trying to come off as rude or snarky, but I would pull the belt and do it "the right way"

 

[92AWDHX40]

Yes pull the belt off i never head of pushing it to the side, a lot of dsmers would have saved a lot of time and money if it were that easy.

 

[cedp]

i agree with the other post i would just take it off. also if u never replaced your timing this would be the perfect time to do because its annoying to take everything off again. here is a helpful link on how to remove the timing belt and componets Timing Belt VFAQ