On Thursday, October 26, 2017 at 1:34:54 PM UTC-10, Casa de los peregrinos wrote:
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> Was it a mandatory water pump swap too, as most are?
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> I am just totally a timing chain guy.
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> So much more reliable.
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> Never really heard of one being prone to breakage either...

My understanding is that timing belts on engines are getting popular again because the chains are stretching and messing up the timing and have to be replaced anyway. You're not saving any money over the life of the vehicle. Well that's what my mechanic says anyway.

I don't recall changing the water pump with the timing belt but I might have. When my water pump sprung a leak on the VW, I changed out the belt too since it had to come off anyway. They should hang the water pump off to the side of the engine since they tend to leak.