old Mazda V6 timing belt change - photos

[Number_35]

These photos are of a scheduled timing belt change in 2008. The vehicle was about 11 years old, and this was the 2nd TB change I'd done. They're supposed to be done every 96K km/60K miles. This was @ around 202K km IIRC.

1st photo - Here's the old TB still in place, with the three timing marks (crank and both cams) lined up and highlighted:







At this point I extended the timing marks onto the TB so I wouldn't be fooled by the parallax. (As me why I know about this.)

I did the entire gig - new tensioner, new tensioner pulley & spacer insert, new idler pulleys, and new water pump:



This little guy fits over the tensioner plunger, and takes any lateral stress before the pin is pulled to allow the plunger to operate. (More school of hard knocks here.)

It was simple enough to transfer the paint marks over to the new belt (by counting teeth) and install the new belt. Unfortunately, I didn't take any photos of the new belt in place. Even more unfortunately, I chose to save a few bucks by buying an aftermarket made-in-you-know-where water pump from a jobber. It was the only non-factory part I used as part of this job, and it did not last long at all. I would have been better off leaving the original in place. To be continued next post ...

 

[Number_35]

Alright, fast forward to 2011 ... time to replace the leaky aftermarket WP with a genuine Mazda one:








That was c. 265K km - the van's now at around 340K km, and that WP, and all the pulleys and the tensioner changed in 2008 are still working well. I did change the TB again @ 300K km.

Lesson learned: Do it right the first time - don't skimp on critical parts.

 

[Kamele0N]

Is that a red paint? To do what? To somehow help at sealing the WP?

 

[Number_35]

Originally Posted By: Kamele0N
Is that a red paint? To do what? To somehow help at sealing the WP?

It's a Permatex product - tacky to hold the gasket in place during assembly, and helps to provide a better seal.

http://www.canadiantire.ca/en/pdp/permat...acKTg#store=929

 

[Mr Nice]

Nice job. Good feeling to know you saved a ton of $$$ to DIY.

 

[Trav]

Originally Posted By: Number_35
Lesson learned: Do it right the first time - don't skimp on critical parts.


Good job and saved some cash, too bad the WP threw a wet rag on it for you. As you say lesson learned.

 

[Number_35]

Originally Posted By: Mr Nice
Nice job. Good feeling to know you saved a ton of $$$ to DIY.


A trusted local garage quoted me c. $700 for the WP replacement in 2011. That included an aftermarket WP, from the same country of origin as the bad replacement. They would not consider an OEM part. The service writer said that Japan and China were in the same part of the world, so the part's quality would be comparable. No thanks - I took a rare vacation day, bought a real WP from the dealer, and spent a good day saving $500.

 

[Number_35]

Originally Posted By: Trav
Originally Posted By: Number_35
Lesson learned: Do it right the first time - don't skimp on critical parts.


Good job and saved some cash, too bad the WP threw a wet rag on it for you. As you say lesson learned.


Trav, for what it's worth, the aftermarket WP was a NAPA Tru-Flow w/ a lifetime warranty. I'd rather have a good part than a good warranty, and didn't want to replace bad with bad, so shelled out for the dealer part. In general I've found NAPA parts to be good - this one was the exception.

 

[Trav]

Originally Posted By: Number_35
Originally Posted By: Trav
Originally Posted By: Number_35
Lesson learned: Do it right the first time - don't skimp on critical parts.


Good job and saved some cash, too bad the WP threw a wet rag on it for you. As you say lesson learned.


I'd rather have a good part than a good warranty


Amen to that! Lifetime warranty on cheap rubbish is worthless like these $10 engine mounts that take 4 hrs to swap, you burn up the cost of OE pretty quick replacing them every few months.
I usually have decent luck with Napa but there are some parts I stay clear of, WP and timing kits being a couple of them.

 

[dlundblad]

Lesson learned indeed.

Thank you for sharing.

 

[zzyzzx]

What was the brand of aftermarket water pump that failed prematurely?

 

[Number_35]

Originally Posted By: zzyzzx
What was the brand of aftermarket water pump that failed prematurely?

It was a TruFlo from NAPA, made in China.