Again, thank you for all the suggestions. Facing limited time, money and skin (particularly on the backs of my hands) I'm opting to put a few of these things off till later this year but I at least know what to keep an eye on. I'm feeling confident that the car was a good choice for the money.

 

You talking to me?

 

no tanprotege. if the water pump is driven by another belt, then all is fine. replacing it at the time of timing belt replacement is only a good idea if the pump is driven by the timing belt. getting the belt off is about 90% of the job.

 

The water pump shares a belt with the alternator I believe. It's not driven by the timing belt but it lives right behind, it's pulley is smack in the middle of the timing belt loop and the tensioner spring anchors onto it. It might be possible to remove the pump without totally removing the belt, and that would save a bit of work in not removing the lower timing cover and pulleys, but you'd have to wire the tensioner side of the belt to the back of the engine compartment to keep tension on the belt so it doesn't slip.

 

on a 2003 protege, the water pump is driven by the alternator belt. but to replace the pump you have to remove the timing belt covers. i replaced it and i think it would be impossible to replace that pump without removing the timing belt.