Water pump!!!!

Hey guess what? My water pump failed. Got water in the oil!!!!

Yay!!!

So awesome, that I get to try this project now and spend $600 on parts. So excited. (insert sarcastic face about here)
 
I wish you success with the replacement. At least you got to 168k miles on yours. Mine went at 66k miles. I hope that I don't have that problem again.
 
I wish you success with the replacement. At least you got to 168k miles on yours. Mine went at 66k miles. I hope that I don't have that problem again.

Dang... 66k huh? That's ridiculous. Yeah, I have two CX9's. My wife's has 93k on it also. I just check the oil every time I get gas, or think of it. That's how I caught the 2008 with the water leak. Plus, to be honest, it was sounding funny. So I was suspecting something was up. Lets hope the replacement parts are good. I went with ACDElco, which had the best reviews for OE replacement parts.
 
Are all of the replacement parts AC Delco? how much did that run you as opposed to mazda oem. I was fortunate at the time to still be under the extended warranty so I had the dealer do it. I really don't know how well they did the replacement. Ever since I have been pretty anal with checking the coolant tank on a daily basis. That is how I caught it the first time. The coolant level kept dropping but no coolant in the oil. What wound up happening was that it sprung a leak when the water pump went.
 
Are all of the replacement parts AC Delco? how much did that run you as opposed to mazda oem. I was fortunate at the time to still be under the extended warranty so I had the dealer do it. I really don't know how well they did the replacement. Ever since I have been pretty anal with checking the coolant tank on a daily basis. That is how I caught it the first time. The coolant level kept dropping but no coolant in the oil. What wound up happening was that it sprung a leak when the water pump went.

I did everything except the VVT actuators. I also replaced my alternator while I was in there as it looked like a ridiculously tough job if I wasn't already neck deep into the engine. The tear down process took me 10 hours yesterday, but I took my time, drank lots of beer and just kinda enjoyed the process. Had a few parts that were tough to get off, like the power steering pump for example, was ridiculously hard to reach.

With the pump, new valve cover gaskets, timing chains, all guides, specialty tools, alternator, new plenum gaskets, new timing cover (harmonic balancer) seal, and everything else I should be about $1100 or less slightly. I figure the dealer would have charged me over $2500 to do everything I am replacing. But I just decided its better to do myself, and fix any and all that could go wrong over the next few years while I am at it. (that is tough to reach)

Not cheap, but a lot less than a new vehicle payment.

I did figure out what was leaking. Surprisingly the pump itself was fine, but the gasket gave out, so coolant was shooting out the weap hole like mad. There was a tiny amount of coolant in the oil, but very little, so I got pretty lucky really.

The engine is in pretty great condition TBH. The timing chain guides which are plastic barely had any grooves worn into them in fact. Hard to believe as it seems plastic would wear out pretty fast. But the inside looked really good. No carbon buildup anywhere at all. I've been running synthetic oil in it so that's likely why I suppose.

I should have all the parts and button her up this coming weekend. I took some pics but I don't have a site to host them on (apparently not allowed here?) or I would shown the torn down motor. The motor mounts was probably what I was most worried but was very easy to remove. Had to move the engine up and down to get some things out.

AC delco was the pump only. I used FelPro for the gaskets, and I'm not sure what the Alternator was. The timing chain and guides were an OE replacement brand that had good reviews on JCWhitney, but I can't remember what brand it was. Slightly less expensive than the OE from Mazda though I know that, about $150 for all timing parts.
 
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Congratulations on successfully completing the water pump and timing chain replacement! It is a bit of a challenge, but much cheaper to DIY vice having the dealership do the work. For anyone else out there that plans on doing this repair, I'm willing to share tools so you don't have to pay out for specialty tools you may never use again. I did replace the side motor mount as it was leaking oil, but it had to be removed as part of the repair anyways so no extra work involved in that. This site is not very easy for posting pics, but it can be done as an attachment to a post. I was working on DIY for this, but it is very complex considering the many steps and not easy to put together on this site. I may have to break it down in sections, but I do have a lot of information, video clips, and pics from the repair I did.
 
Congratulations on successfully completing the water pump and timing chain replacement! It is a bit of a challenge, but much cheaper to DIY vice having the dealership do the work. For anyone else out there that plans on doing this repair, I'm willing to share tools so you don't have to pay out for specialty tools you may never use again. I did replace the side motor mount as it was leaking oil, but it had to be removed as part of the repair anyways so no extra work involved in that. This site is not very easy for posting pics, but it can be done as an attachment to a post. I was working on DIY for this, but it is very complex considering the many steps and not easy to put together on this site. I may have to break it down in sections, but I do have a lot of information, video clips, and pics from the repair I did.

Yeah, except now my timing is apparently off a tooth. So now I have to go back in and fix what I did wrong. I think I somehow got off between the front bank 2 cam and the crank. Showing an engine P0018 code. Engine runs totally fine, and no issues at all, but throwing the code nonetheless, so soon as I get time I plan to tear it back apart and fix this. Now that I have been in there once, I'm not really afraid to do it again, a long process, but a overall a pretty easy one. Just took forever to get it done.
 
So basically a check engine light on type of problem. Does the inspection process in ohio require that the check engine light be off in order for the vehicle to pass inspection. If not I would just leave it. If you do need it off that is a lot of work that needs to be done in order to pass state inspection, but better you than the stealer.
 
So basically a check engine light on type of problem. Does the inspection process in ohio require that the check engine light be off in order for the vehicle to pass inspection. If not I would just leave it. If you do need it off that is a lot of work that needs to be done in order to pass state inspection, but better you than the stealer.

I asked around and "supposedly" the combustion chamber temps would be higher with the timing off by one tooth. Not sure I believe that or not, but that's what I was told, so I plan to do it. When I get time. He said it was a long term problem, but running it a bit short term wasn't a huge issue. Since its winter here I figure temps are lower than normal, so I have at least until spring to get it done. But yeah, I don't know if all that is bogus or not. Seems kinda silly, and it runs absolutely perfect.
 
If you have a scan tool it will tell you what the engine temp is so that you will know if it is really running a bit hotter than normal.
 
If you have a scan tool it will tell you what the engine temp is so that you will know if it is really running a bit hotter than normal.

Yeah, the in dash thermostat if anything is cooler than it was previously. I don't have a scan-gauge though.

Can you see the timing marks without tearing it all down?

Unfortunately no. But it is possible to move a tooth without taking the cover off. Have to make a few unique tools to reach the chain tension-er, but can be done from the valve covers apparently. I haven't decided if I will try this method or just tear it all the way down again or not.
 
Are all of the replacement parts AC Delco? how much did that run you as opposed to mazda oem. I was fortunate at the time to still be under the extended warranty so I had the dealer do it. I really don't know how well they did the replacement. Ever since I have been pretty anal with checking the coolant tank on a daily basis. That is how I caught it the first time. The coolant level kept dropping but no coolant in the oil. What wound up happening was that it sprung a leak when the water pump went.

It's good to hear that this was covered under warranty. I'm around 88k and still have some extended warranty left. I'm gunna start checking the coolant more often.
 
Well, I tore it all back down and redid the timing chain. I was off one tooth when assembling the first time. Not sure how it happened, probably just being careless or drinking too much beer while reassembling. Nonetheless, she's all back together now and the check engine light is off.

Gas mileage is back to 20+ mpg thankfully.
 
dougtex28,

Looking forward to seeing that writeup. I was unaware of this issue, our 9 has 120k on the clock so far, and the only problem so far is we are on our 3rd PTU (I drilled and tapped the last one so I can change the fluid). Anyway, this would help me greatly, and if you could start with the most surprising or PITA parts of the process, that would be great. To pull the crank pulley, what kind of puller? 3 jaw or one that bolts to the pulley? You mentioned a motor mount, did you need an engine support bar? And what tool is required to hold the timing chain gears (to replace the VVT actuators?))? Thanks for all your info!
 
dougtex28,

Looking forward to seeing that writeup. I was unaware of this issue, our 9 has 120k on the clock so far, and the only problem so far is we are on our 3rd PTU (I drilled and tapped the last one so I can change the fluid). Anyway, this would help me greatly, and if you could start with the most surprising or PITA parts of the process, that would be great. To pull the crank pulley, what kind of puller? 3 jaw or one that bolts to the pulley? You mentioned a motor mount, did you need an engine support bar? And what tool is required to hold the timing chain gears (to replace the VVT actuators?))? Thanks for all your info!

I used one that bolted to the pulley. Started with a three jaw and it did not work, ran into something... can't remember what it was now.

I used a standard floor jack with a 2 x 4 for support under the oil pan. You will need to move the engine up and down during the process to clear bolts in order to pull them out. This is especially true of getting the long motor mount bolts out of the block. Once you get used to when you need to move the engine up or down its not too bad. Until then though, its a bit frustrating when you can't get a bolt out as it runs into the frame stopping it from coming out and delaying your progress. It is also easier to remove certain things like the steering pump bolts when assisted by moving the engine up or down as well.

I've now done this twice now and my time was almost cut in half the second time. The only part I didn't have to remove the second time was the water pump itself as it was replaced the first time. Second time I had to re position the timing chain, so it was nearly as involved as the first project... what a pain.
 

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