water pump replacement - what else

water pump has sprung a leak so needs replacing, so whilst teh front of teh car is off for access what else should I be looking to get done? Cam belt was done 45K ago and you all probably remember me having the gearbox rebuilt 10K ago.

So is there stuff I would be silly to miss out on doing whilst access is good?

[Conan_the_Librarian]

While you are in there.........
Cam Cover gaskets.
Thermostat.
Oil breather pipe between cam covers not perished.
Vacuum activation of variable inlet manifold.

If you intend to keep the car you may consider a cambelt change as most of the cost is in the labour. For me there would be less than 18 months before I'd have to have the front end off again. They are going to have to de-tension the cambelt and lock the cams and reset the cambelt if the job is done properly.

cheers,

what do you mean by teh vacuum activation job? what needs checking? I asked him to do teh thermostat anyway.

Cambelt for me is ~ 12 months away on current mileage but would co-incide nicely with MOT time. I get decent rates as I look after his website so not a big issue

[Conan_the_Librarian]

Once you have the plastic trims off the engine, on the front of the intake manifold is the variable intake length actuator. Just watch it as you rev the engine to about 5k revs. You should see it operate quickly. If it don't work or is sluggish it could be the bellows are leaking or the actuator (opposite the bellows) is duff or the cylinder inside the manifold is seized.

It's not common, but is not unusual. Most people don't notice the loss of power unless it happens quickly.