You need to list the engine size when talking about engine issues. In this case both gas engines show a water pump that is not driven by the timing belt. That is very unusual so your mechanic probably assumed the water pump pulley is one of the timing belt's idler pulleys. He would have found out otherwise when the new pump arrived. That's not to say the timing belt isn't in the way of removing the water pump, but I've never seen that on any engine before.
There's three drive belts, but I can't tell which ones have to be removed for this repair. If you were talking with a service writer, more than likely things got mixed up between that person and the mechanic. Mechanics have very poor communication skills when talking with car owners. Service advisers know relatively little about cars. Their job is to take what they think they heard from the mechanic and translate it into something they think you'll understand. I know they are very used to telling people it's strongly recommended to replace the water pump when it's driven by the timing belt, and that belt is being replaced. They may have heard "belt" and incorrectly interpreted that as "timing belt".
Feb 15, 2014 at 12:10 AM
