Did my oil change today and noticed coolant coming from the timing belt cover. I have seen the videos on youtube on how to replace the timing belt and W.P.. Question, I have to remove the cam gear to get the cover off to get to the W.P.. I saw the video where the guy uses a big set of channel lock pliers to hold the gear down while he removes the bolt. Don't I still need a puller after that to get the gear off? Thank you in advance for any help on this job I'm not looking forward to doing.... Ricky

You don't need to remove the cam gear to replace the water pump and timing belt. The only time you have to remove the cam gear is if you need to remove the rear timing belt cover, like if you're pulling the head off. If you're talking about the crankshaft pulley then, yes you definately need a good 3 jaw puller to remove that.

I guess youtube guy was wrong. I'll find out when I get it fully torn down. Thanks again, that should save me some time.... Ricky

I haven't seen the youtube guy, but I was looking at the manual today and realized I misinformed you. You can remove the timing belt without removing the cam gear, but the water pump is behind the rear timing cover so it will have to come off to do the water pump. You don't need a puller to remove the cam gear though. After you break torque on the bolt (the hard part) and remove it, the gear should come right off.

Yes, you need to remove the rear timing belt cover to replace the water pump. I replaced water pump, timing belt, and tensioner on my Neon about a month ago.

I did have to remove cam gear to remove the plastic cover on the water pump. this job had so many little things stopping me and fighting me even on easy steps. I did luck out, a friend works at Hertz as a mechanic. He still had the cam gear locking tool the company bought him when they rented Neons. It's a thick flat bar with 2 locking fingers you can adjust. I also used it to lock the main pulley as I installed the bolt. I'm waiting for the upper and lower strut mounts to come in the mail and I'll finish the job. Thanks

I just cut the rear timing cover to do my water pump. If I do remove the cam gear and go thru all that work I'd replace the front cam seal. Put the crank gear 3 notches before TDC the attempt to remove cam gear. That way if you do move the cam a little you won't hurt the valves.