E7J timing belt and water pump

[donsrno1]

After a look this morning the 1.4 clio is definately leaking from somewhere over on the drivers side of the engine bay so I'm presumming it's the water pump. I'm just trying to get everything off to make sure thats what it is at the moment.

Has anyone got any tips for doing this job or just follow the haynes manual? I've just started it but can already see it being a bit of a mare as theres hardly any room .

Any advice much appreciated.

[schakal]

coops get your ass down here mofo
you have just been ..

[schakal]

its more or less the same as doing a f7p/r
water pump iirc mate .
get the belt out and access from underneath the car
firstly turn the w. pump pulley by hand and see if its
making a funny noise or moving sideways a wee.

you said the w.pump was new i remember though??
i would check the tightness of the bolts if the pulley
sounds /look fine

[donsrno1]

its more or less the same as doing a f7p/r
water pump iirc mate .
get the belt out and access from underneath the car
firstly turn the w. pump pulley by hand and see if its
making a funny noise or moving sideways a wee.

you said the w.pump was new i remember though??
i would check the tightness of the bolts if the pulley
sounds /look fine

This is a different car to the other thread schakal, the other thread about the noise was on the hybrid I just bought - but this is for my old 1.4 as I want to sort the coolant leak before selling it.

Thanks for the advice though.

[1fast6]

Yes it is a pain, i've done it twice.

Top engine mount off, jack engine up a bit so you can remove the cambelt and bottom pulley covers. Then a ratchet spanner and 10mm (i think) to remove the bolts holding the water pump in.

It is fiddly more than difficult, but you will swear a fair bit.

Also, if you cam cover is late phase 2 or above it will use torx head bolts. You will only get these out by buying a L shape torx bit driver or jacking the engine up really high.

Pic from the last time i did a head change:



You can see where it is from that pic.

[schakal]

This is a different car to the other thread schakal, the other thread about the noise was on the hybrid I just bought - but this is for my old 1.4 as I want to sort the coolant leak before selling it.

Thanks for the advice though.

never mind fella .
she will be my bitch sooner or later :P

[donsrno1]

last question. How much movement (as inx side to side in terms of the tension of the belt) should there be in the belt between the tensioner and the crankshaft pulley?

I checked what it was like between the camshaft pulley and the water pump before removal and that feels about right just now but I want to make sure about the bit between the crankshft pulley and tensioner as I forgot to check what that was like before removal.

Thanks.

[AndyFielder]

Andys tip: use torx bits, that you would use in a ratchet, get one of those ratchet spnners (10mm) and use that to turn the torx bit, loads quicker than using an L shaped torx spanner. to initially releace the bolt i recomend using a normal spanner, or L shape, as i dont trust the strength of the ratchet spanners.