As some of you may or may not know, I am doing the water pump on the max. I have everything ready to go, all the parts etc ... However I am stuck with this chain tensioner. I am afraid to just remove it for the fact that I may slip and the piston/spring will end up inside my engine lost. Not to mention the fact that there is NO ROOM at all. I tried even moving the piston and I can barely get my hand in there and do not have enough strength to move it with two fingers. Any tips would be greatly appreciated.

 

anyone?

 

I had trouble to... ended up just loosening the bolts and pulling it out. Once out, the tensioner maxed out, but was still able to remove from its compartment. No issues. After it was out, i was able to compress it again.

Literally just did this 2 weeks ago. PM me if you have questions.

 

It is out and water pump is in, have to put the car back together now. I also purchased two brand new hoses. Oh did I mention that an allen key fell inside the cover, got that **** out with a magnet that I bent the **** out of. I almost crapped my pants when it happened.

 

I bet you did almost crap your pants...lol...but all went well? Good luck putting her back together

 

tinfoil fool

 

glad you got it all back together... i was afraid of dropping something in there the whole time. Such a tight space you cant exactly look, you just have to go by feel

 

I used a magnet to pull out the allen key, and I got it in the first try! Forgot about this thread ... turns out my radiator was also bad. So now I have a new radiator, radiator cap, thermostat, upper and lower radiator hoses, and water pump.

 

Why did you decide to change pump? Never read about one breaking down

 

Never read about one breaking down?... Well, here's your first time then:
It happened to me about 2 years ago. Apparently the car cooling system was extremely neglected by the previous owner. Being over patient, it took me around 6 hours to change the water pump along with the tensioner. Below are pictures of the old and the new Water Pumps. I guess no need to say which is which.

 

Sweet mother of god...

I bought my car on the cheaps from a neglectful owner, She's singing sweet tunes now but this scares me.