1999 Ducato 2.8 id TD - water pump help
Discussion
Hi everyone,
As usual with these things I have found myself in a bit of a tight spot. August last year we were living in Germany and had just bought the motorhome. I had the cambelt, water pump and aux belt all replaced at reasonable expense for plenty of peace of mind.
This year we are now living in Netherlands, grappling with the import procedure and unbreakable plans to go away towards the end of this month (cannot be missed or moved, 2 sets of friends getting married, one in central-ish Germany, one in Tuscany). There are a couple of public holidays between now and then so that gives even less working days!
Anyway, the problem is that a coolant leak has decided that now is a good time to happen. It is coming from behind the timing belt, but more than that I can't see without starting to remove the belt and associated gubbins. The storage facility where it is kept have had a look (have not removed anything more than I did) and say it's the water pump which is leaking. He says the water pump is behind the cambelt so to replace it, the belt will have to come off AND be replaced, otherwise the mechanic cannot guarantee his work with a 'used' cambelt.
For this he would like to lighten my wallet by €1100 - clearly this is a barking mad price, I'm not even going there.
So, aside from getting a second opinion, I'm considering doing this work myself. It's a pretty big engine and there's a reasonable amount of space so I think it cannot be that difficult (hah!).
Engine info:
1998/1999 Ducato 2.8 id TD (not JTD)
Questions:
- Anyone know if the pump is really behind the cambelt? From what I have read online, it is separate and driven by the aux belt. The guy on the phone was adamant this is not the case and the pump is behind the belt. From what I can see after having removed all the various covers... well, I still can't tell.
- Re-using cambelt. I have done this on cars in the past and never considered it to be a potential risk. Maybe big heavy diesel engines are different? I think not.
- Does anyone know the size of the crank pulley bolt? I'm gonna need to buy a beefy socket to get that off and certainly don't have one that big.
- Does anyone have or know where I might get (preferably to download) a workshop manual for this engine?
Thanks in advance,
Leo
As usual with these things I have found myself in a bit of a tight spot. August last year we were living in Germany and had just bought the motorhome. I had the cambelt, water pump and aux belt all replaced at reasonable expense for plenty of peace of mind.
This year we are now living in Netherlands, grappling with the import procedure and unbreakable plans to go away towards the end of this month (cannot be missed or moved, 2 sets of friends getting married, one in central-ish Germany, one in Tuscany). There are a couple of public holidays between now and then so that gives even less working days!
Anyway, the problem is that a coolant leak has decided that now is a good time to happen. It is coming from behind the timing belt, but more than that I can't see without starting to remove the belt and associated gubbins. The storage facility where it is kept have had a look (have not removed anything more than I did) and say it's the water pump which is leaking. He says the water pump is behind the cambelt so to replace it, the belt will have to come off AND be replaced, otherwise the mechanic cannot guarantee his work with a 'used' cambelt.
For this he would like to lighten my wallet by €1100 - clearly this is a barking mad price, I'm not even going there.
So, aside from getting a second opinion, I'm considering doing this work myself. It's a pretty big engine and there's a reasonable amount of space so I think it cannot be that difficult (hah!).
Engine info:
1998/1999 Ducato 2.8 id TD (not JTD)
Questions:
- Anyone know if the pump is really behind the cambelt? From what I have read online, it is separate and driven by the aux belt. The guy on the phone was adamant this is not the case and the pump is behind the belt. From what I can see after having removed all the various covers... well, I still can't tell.
- Re-using cambelt. I have done this on cars in the past and never considered it to be a potential risk. Maybe big heavy diesel engines are different? I think not.
- Does anyone know the size of the crank pulley bolt? I'm gonna need to buy a beefy socket to get that off and certainly don't have one that big.
- Does anyone have or know where I might get (preferably to download) a workshop manual for this engine?
Thanks in advance,
Leo
That is a shocking amount of time to change a water pump! Went to a couple of other garages today to get quotes and one of them was fairly sure that the pump is NOT driven by the cambelt and is separate, driven by the alternator/aux belt. Interesting because the first garage was convinced it was by the cambelt.
So I went to the motorhome myself for yet another look. Sure enough, on looking closely the cambelt drives only two toothed wheels, one the camshaft, the other the diesel pump.
Getting underneath the front side, I can see the pump and indeed it seems to be either very close to or part of the engine mount and for sure driven by the aux belt. I am hoping very much that this will ease the cost as they really ought not to have to even touch the cambelt.
For reference, I managed to take a couple of photos:
So I went to the motorhome myself for yet another look. Sure enough, on looking closely the cambelt drives only two toothed wheels, one the camshaft, the other the diesel pump.
Getting underneath the front side, I can see the pump and indeed it seems to be either very close to or part of the engine mount and for sure driven by the aux belt. I am hoping very much that this will ease the cost as they really ought not to have to even touch the cambelt.
For reference, I managed to take a couple of photos:
I'm not a professional mechanic or similar but have done loads of work on my own cars over the years. Never have I heard anyone say or read in a book that a belt should be changed if it's only been removed and is still in good condition.
Agree totally about getting someone else to do it though, at least that way you have a guarantee if something does go wrong. Whether that is worth the premium you pay for not doing it yourself, I am not so sure. In this case I simply do not have the time available before going on holiday to attempt it myself so the garage is going to take care of it.
Agree totally about getting someone else to do it though, at least that way you have a guarantee if something does go wrong. Whether that is worth the premium you pay for not doing it yourself, I am not so sure. In this case I simply do not have the time available before going on holiday to attempt it myself so the garage is going to take care of it.
Gassing Station | Tents, Caravans & Motorhomes | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff