Pontiac Repair: my car, belt tension, ecentric

Question
ok my sunbird is over heating. i just replaced the water pump and i need to know if the little notches on the timeing gear need to be aligned?

Answer
Hi Beth:

Yes it's imperative that the gears be aligned properly and that the belt tension is correct as well as for what to line up it depends on the year of the car and what size engine it has. but a rule of thumb is there is a line on the outside of the balancer that bolts on to the crankshaft and that notch lines up to a pointer that is on the timing cover at the bottom and the notch on the timing gear is usually at the 12:00 position and lines up with a notch in the back of the timing cover. But like I said each engine has it's subtle differences especially with the belt tension if it's a newer model year it has a belt tensioner plus adjusting the tension with the water pump. If it's an older sunbird it uses just the water pump as a ecentric to adjust the belt tension. Good Luck :)