Timing belt change on 2006 Aveo LS: My new detailed write-up

[byron84]

How much was the tensioner with the idler and tensioner? I already had to change my tensioner around 30k mile mark so its still relatively new so itll be extra tensioner. But im at 50k miles already so will be needing to do it later this year

The timing belt kit I got from eBay was around $80 shipped for the whole kit. It might be a bit more if you decide to get a Gates or Contitech belt, but either way I think it's better to change everything at the same time unless you really want to go back in there another time.

In my case I also changed the water pump which was about 60 bucks shipped.

Thanks for posting it I pray I never have to do this but I know with your instructions I can do it. Your step by step instructions along with the pictures are way better than all the other instruction sites.

If you have a friend with experience + this guide you will do just fine I'm sure

[Hazed_blue]

So I just replaced my timing belt, tensioner, water pump, and idler pulley with the help of this guide. I do have a few questions though:

A few things that I noticed when turning the car back on. Upon first turning on the engine, I noticed a "click-click-click-click" noise coming from the passenger side of the engine. However, after a few minutes, it disappeared, and I have not heard it since. I also noticed that when I revved the engine that the revving noise had a more "crisp" sound to it than before. My guess is that the latter might be from the belt being fresh and new (vs. the crusty and worn out old one), and the former might have been something getting seated correctly. Any thoughts on this?

Despite the initial noises, I've taken the car for a spin, and nothing seems out of the ordinary. No leakage, no smells, no hesitation, explosions, or anything like that. No more clicking noise either. I just want to make sure that everything is okay...

[thehunterooo]

maybe the clicking sound was from the water pump?

good job, it runs!!!! :P

[YoMoma]

Very good write up. I should be able to tackle this myself in an afternoon.
One question though.
Can anyone be more specific as to what specialized tools are needed or at least helpful for this install.
There is talk of a water pump tool, where can I find this? Is there a part number for it?
Any other tools I need to be aware of?

[screech985]

mines an 04 aveo auto and it pretty much is the same thing the only difference is if you have an auto tranny you need an impact wrench to take off the harmonic balancer

[AnouraTheMarsupial]

You, sir, are a gentleman and a scholar.
Thats a hot write-up.

[roberco]

Hi,

I follow your write-up to replace the timing belt on my 07 Aveo. I also replace the water pump too. I'm running into a situation where the timing marks on the crankshaft and camshaft are out of alignment right after I turn the water pump counter clockwise to loosen up the belt. The attached pictures show the marks are no longer aligned. Do you know how I can realign these marks.

Thanks,

[serega12]

Did you rotate them back in the same direction or all the way around in the opposite?

[roberco]

I rotated them back to where they were, just a tooth back. However, now I'm running into a seemingly misfiring problem afterward. I replaced the timing belt on my 07 Aveo5 LS. I also replaced the water pump, timing belt tensioner, and idler. After putting everything back in, I fired up the engine. The first sound I heard from the timing belt housing was a squeek. This last for about 10 sec. Next thing I notice was that the engine ran fine for 30sec and began to shake intermittenly as if it's misfiring. The engine ran for about 30sec and shut off. I restarted the engine and it ran for 30sec and shut off. I don't know what's going on now. I'm going to reopen the timing belt housing to see what's going on. I'm suspecting that the belt has slipped. Now if the belt had slipped, does it mean that the valves were bent? Also, could you please show me how to retime the engine if the belt had slipped?

[04LSforever]

Re: Yomama post for the water pump tool.

Don't Stress too much about the "special tool" needed for the water pump. I fashioned one from a piece of scrap steel by cutting the water pump shape using a hack saw. its just a home made wrench but it worked fine for turning on both the old and the new water pump.