Timing belt, water pump, pulleys, etc...

[2006aveo]

Hey all. Just thought I'd chime in with an update on some work I've been doing. Today I broke into the guts of my Aveo and: removed the old timing belt, replaced the water pump, replaced timing belt tensioner/pulley, replaced timing belt idler pulley, replaced timing belt, replaced drive belt, replaced spark plugs, replaced plug wires. After sewing her back up, she fired right up and purred like a cat. Man that's always a good feeling. Thanks to all the guides and info on this forum, the job was a piece of cake. The hardest part I think was getting the upper timing belt cover in and out of place around all the hoses (yes, I thought replacing the water pump was actually easier than that dang cover!) Just some notes... and questions, too...

1. removing the inner engine mount bracket is a huge help for access to the water pump, and being able to pry away the inner timing belt cover enough to remove the water pump. i also remove the timing belt tensioner pulley and idler to relieve extra room of the inner timing belt cover. using a single ziptie, i held the inner cover away from the engine (loop around the tb cover, and the bolt for the inner wheel well splash guard). there was plenty of room to jiggle the old pump out, and the new one in. see pics...


2. after mounting the new timing belt idler pulley and torquing it to spec, i noticed when spinning it that it rubbed against the inner cover. i removed it, and noticed the inner cover had wear marks from the previous pulley. the old pulley even had a flared edge to it from where it rubbed. see pic... poor design having the pulley so close to the inner cover. i can hear the new one rubbing when the engine is running. i imagine after a while, it will wear off enough to not hiss and whine. it's hardly noticeable now, but still noticeable. this a common occurrence?


3. also, with that inner engine mount bracket out of the way, there is plenty of room to slide a pair of channel lock pliars in and around the water pump to rotate it for tension. i had spent 20 bucks and ordered that metal special tool thinking i was going to need it (which now that I think about it, is only necessary probably if you DONT remove the inner engine mount bracket) the tool hasn't even been delivered to me yet but I finished the install today, haha. oh well, now i have a large crows foot.

EDIT: I think the answer to the following could be the valve cover gasket...
4. all of my old plugs looked good color and wear wise. except one had quite a bit of oil around the threads and near the base washer. the others were pretty dry as usual. any ideas about this? the plug end was fine, no oil or fouling. just the threads were a little oily. i took a pic, not sure how well you can see it. i have the oily one on the right, and a normally worn one on the left...

[avguy]

I've only done my own timing belt so I can't say for sure, but a belt in contact with the cover doesn't sound right. Wonder if it's possible the cover had some kind of defect. Maybe someone else has other info on this. The oil on the plug threads is an easy one - your valve cover gasket is leaking a bit and allows oil into that plug well (and probably outside too). So, now you know what your next project will be

[2006aveo]

but a belt in contact with the cover doesn't sound right. Wonder if it's possible the cover had some kind of defect.

The rubbing I saw was the pulley itself, not the belt. The inner cover had wear, and the pulley's inner lip/edge had wear too. (I'll try and snap a pic of that tonite to share)

Yea after thinking about it I assumed valve cover. It's on the to do list, along with the rear struts now

[2006aveo]

Here are some pics of the idler pulley that I mentioned above, and how its backside was rubbing against the inner TB cover. It formed a pretty good lip along the edge of the pulley from the friction and spinning. I was amazed at the find, to say the least.

[echostrike]

Good Thread 2006--I want to ask if you can hear the new pulleys rub on the inner guard (like the old ones did)? Any Idea was caused these pulleys to come in contact with the back timing belt guard?

[2006aveo]

Hey Echostike,

When I first installed the new idler pulley and spun it by hand, I could hear it rubbing. (I actually never heard the old one rubbing. After it wears in a few fractions of a MM, I think it's good.) The new pulley didnt free spin nicely as a new pulley should with new bearings due to it rubbing. But it was loose enough that I wasn't concerned. I also wasn't concerned because as I mentioned, the old one rubbed - so I knew the new one would at first. Upon firing up the engine, I could hear a light hiss from the pulley. It wasnt loud, and you almost couldn't hear it with the hood closed. Now that I've been driving it almost a week, I need to go out and listen under the hood for it - I'll bet the hiss is gone. I'll check and report back.

I'm not sure if this is common among my year aveos, or if mine was a fluke. Like I said, it's rubbing, but we're talking fractions of a MM. Still, it was enough wear to notice the inner cover was scored, and the pulley developed that flared edge to it, haha. Everything is so tight fighting and snug down in there. The good news is that it's not a big deal. I drove 80k miles on that factory TB and pulley and it was still ok.