I bought a 96 Mazda Protege for my daughter this past weekend. Seems like a nice little car and I am trying to get acquainted with it. My first concern is the timing belt. Car has 162K and previous owner does not think he ever changed the timing belt. This is a 16 valve, double overhead cam, so I am pretty certain this is an interference motor and that there is no way I want to have the timing belt break, so I am thinking that is first on the list. I am also hearing a squeak that might be a water pump bearing which is convenient since the timing belt fix and water pump replacement are a pretty natural combination.

So, how big a job is it to replace the timing belt and water pump on this car? The engine compartment looks a little tight - it's an LX with auto tranny and air conditioning. I am pretty good with engines, but have never worked on a Mazda before.

Thanks in advance.

Mike

 

Mike,
I just purchaed a '98 626 with 135,000 miles for my daughter knowing that the water pump needed replaced. let me tell you that it is a pain in the butt. Not really difficult, just very time consuming. I had to remove the inner wheelwell cover to get to the crankshaft pulley and remove it. I had toremove the head cover andthe power steering pump. In my case, I also had toremove the right motor mount, because the timing belt cover wraps around it( it is not in twopieces.) and prop the engine up with a floor jack. All of this to get to the water pump. The idler pulley is bolted to the block along with the water pump so it has to be reomved also. Crazy thing is I don't need to replace the timeing belt because it is in fantastic condition. Looks like new. I don't know much about mazda's, in fact I don't know much period. I am going bywhat Chilton'sand several other sources told me to do. Hope the process is a little different for you.

 

Mike,

Another thing you might want to do is go the following website. This is where I got alot of my information. The guy who posted this information was fantastic. Step-by-step instructions with pictures of what to look for and. FANTASTIC!!! www.instructables.com Type in the words water pump. This is the process for a '97 626, but it might help you in some way.