I'm considering doing it today because i have a water pump on hand and all day to do it. I don't have any timing chain noise that I'm aware of, and the car has 178000 on it.

Please chime in if skipping the tensioner is some kind of foolish thing. It wouldn't ruin my life if I had to go back in a year from now.

Dave

 

Its alot of work simply getting in there and if I recall properly you have to pull the timing belt tensioner to get enough slack to pull the water pump. At 178K miles, You'll have to redo alot of work to replace the tensioner later. Also when you replace the water pump make sure you don't nick any of the seals as you might get a cooling leak. One man's opinion: Do it all once as long as you're taking the trouble to get in there. Good luck, Rich

 

Also, my car is a 97. Doing some back reading it seems the tensioner redesign happened in time for the 97s.

dave

 

I just realized my drive belts are due to be changed. So I'm going to order a new tensioner and belts and do it next week. Hopefully it won't snowing or something.

Dave

 

In case anyone comes across this thread: my 97 has one TSB on it to change the tensioner gasket. P/N 13079-31U00. $4. Obviously I'll have that on hand next week and re-use the tensioner and guide if they look ok.

Dave