Good shop to get timing belt changed in Dallas, TX + Questions

[echostrike]

Hello all,

I tried to search for answers to the above question and did not find anything specific, forgive me if its been discussed.

Anywho, I have a 2007 Aveo5, with 78K on the ticker, and no service history (just bought used at dealer). I see the some maintenance was performed as the T-stat housing is metal, not the plastic one that was prone to failure I read about. However, reading of the horror stories with the timing belt I decided to pop the top cover off and inspect, and low and behold the belt read "Gates T335" which (if I am not mistaken) is the original belt in the car. Not good. Also not good is that I can only do small repairs myself--as I live in a condo with no garage--and to be honest I have never done a timing belt job and am worried about getting the timing all out of whack (esp. when replacing the water pump as you have to remove the cam sprockets).

So here are my questions: Any Dallas people around here that can share experiences of getting this job done at local shops? The best one I've found so far is Bankston Chevy, who want 500 for the belt +pulleys, or 800 for that and the water pump. Stiff, I know, but my back is in a corner.

Q#2, I've looked through the manual and I am unclear on the exact interval the factory wants the waterpump replaced. Some shops have said to hold off till the 120K service, others weren't aware that the water pump had any connection to the timing belt What have ya'll done?

Note: If anyone has a large garage they want to donate for a service meetup you just let me know, special points if you've done this work before and want to show some aveo noobs how its done

[2006aveo]

Well I'm not from TX so I can't recommend a shop, sorry. I can recommend that you can change the TB and water pump without removing the cam sprockets. I just did this last weekend, and in another thread I posted a tip on how to hold the inner TB cover out of the way for easier access to the water pump.

I work on my own cars as much as I can, including timing belts. When I replace the timing belt, I always replace all pulleys plus the water pump (unless a pump had blown prematurely and was recently replaced) (and this is only if the water pump is indeed driven by the timing belt, and not easily accessed unless you are indeed digging into the guts of the car - like the aveos) The water pumps are relatively cheap, and you're already in the guts of the car. I'd hate for the water pump to blow a month after I just serviced the timing belt, just to have to dig into the car again.

The job itself is not that bad, even for "small repair" kind of guy. As long as you research the repair (there are some great walk-throughs and threads here and elsewhere). But I completely understand where a lack of a garage would prevent me from doing it - I've had that issue before.

[echostrike]

Hey thanks for the reply, two questions... Did you drain all the coolant out of the car (for the water pump) and is it possible to get the drive pulley off with hand tools, or is an impact wrench required?

Thanks!

[2006aveo]

Yep, drain all the coolant out. When standing in front of your Aveo, look down along the left side of the radiator towards the bottom, and you'll see a small, black, hex topped bolt you can unthread to drain coolant. This will drain, most, not all, of the coolant. When you pop out the water pump itself, there is some residual coolant left in there that will leak out, so keep your collection bucket below the pump when you yank it out. (TIP: Dont forget to slowly unscrew your coolant reservoir cap to let air escape while the coolant from your radiator drains - but unscrew just enough to get a good, decent, and non-flooding flow while your collection bucket is located below the drain)

Which pulley are you referring to when you say "drive pulley"? There are many pulleys, and it also matters which belt we are talking about (I assume you are talking about the drive belt(aka "accessory" belt)?)

Timing belt goes around: crankshaft, water pump, tensioner pulley, 2 cam sprokets, idler pulley
Drive belt goes around: crankshaft, tensioner pulley, alternator, power steering pump, a/c compressor

[echostrike]

Yes, sorry I meant the crankshaft, is it possible to remove that bolt without air tools?

Thanks

[2006aveo]

Ahhh ok, the good 'ol crankshaft bolt. The good news is that it's not torqued on there crazy tight like other cars I have encountered. I do not own air tools, so it is totally possible without air tools - the whole job is

Here is my tip and how I did it. An image is supplied below to help illustrate what I did - if it helps, haha. Credit to zchandranfor the photo! I was replacing my drive belt at the same time, so I used my old drive belt as a "wrench" to hold the crank pulley both during untightening and tightening. I looped the old belt around the pulley, doubled it over, and fastened it to something sturdy like the metal frame of the car. The belt bit the pulley enough, and kept the pulley from turning while I tightened or untightened the bolt. Hope this makes sense, sorry, haha. However, this wont work if you plan to re-use the drive belt. There are some other methods on this forum you can try to search. One involves holding the breaks with car in 5th gear to hold it from spinning, but I've never tried that.

[echostrike]

Man you are all sorts of helpful..great info and a great idea with the old drive belt. I love some engineering on a budget!

[2006aveo]

Keep this in mind:

During tightening or untightening (because for one you keep the pulley from spinning clockwise, for the other you keep it from spinning counterclockwise) the end of your "drive belt wrench" loop will be either to your left, or to your right. Well it also depends which way you loop it around the pulley. But bottom line what I am saying, is be careful what you attach the end to. ONLY attach it to metal frame. DO NOT attach to tie rods, sway bar end links, struts, brake caliper, etc... get it looped on a solid piece of frame. I think to untighten I slipped my jack stand handle through the end of the "belt wrench", twisted it a few times to take up slack, then held the jack handle wedged against the metal frame of the car. Just bottom line, dont pull on anything you can break

[echostrike]

Will do, on the not breaking components of the car. Well I got all the parts ordered, went ahead and got the rest of the parts needed for the 60k service (plugs/wires/filters etc). Should be fun times, luckily I purchased a Lisle 24610 about a year ago which makes bleeding the coolant system much easier (esp with one person). Will follow up on progress. Thanks again.

[petrified.rabbit]

if i don't have access to a impact.. i use this..



one is available from harbor freight for like $7.