I have a 1996 1595cc Polo and am trying to replace the cam belt. Question is how do you get the pulley off the water pump to get the bottom cam belt cover off. Or do you somehow loosen the water pump and slide the hole thing forward. Many thanks Ian

Water pump or pulley most likely.

Always replace water pump and pulleys when you do the timing belt.

Also you may have overtightened the belt.

NOTE, Kevlar belts will make a "whirring" noise for a few thousand miles after replacement, but not a growling.

the water pump is run by the serpentine belt. i know on some 3.0s they had the water pump run by a secondary belt that runs the fron cam. which ever it is, remove the belt by the tensioner pulley and remove the water pump pulley. unbolt the water pump and slide it out. may require removing the upper intake. if the water pump is hard to reach from the top, try removing the plastic fender wells and getting to it from behind the tire.

All Mitsubishi cars pretty much hide the water pump under the timing belt. You should buy all new belts for the car and if you have 150,000+ miles consider replacing the water pump at the same time.
You will have to take off the power steering belt . First , take off the negative battery cable so you do not blow an expensive fuse on the positive battery cable clamp. Facing the back of the car , reach UNDER the alternator and loosen the bolt on the bottom right side, now loosen the bolt on the adjuster block on top, you can now turn the adjuster bolt and move the alternator to change the belt.
To take off the steering pump belt on the front of the motor, you need to loosen the nut on the back side of the pulley it holds the adjuster pulley in place . With the adjuster pulley loose , you can use the adjuster bolt to move the pulley to adjust the steering pump belt.
Now take off the upper belt cover, support the motor, take off the motor mount, jack up the right front corner of the car, take off the front right tire, take off the engine plastic under cover.
Line up the TDC timing mark on the cover to the mark on the pulley, check that the dot on the cam lines up with the timing arrow on the head, take off the lower pulleys, take off the lower engine cover, observe the timing marks/arrows and highlight with paint (crank marks and cam marks should all line up if not , put the lower cover and pulley back on and rotate the crankshaft one full turn.), loosen the timing belt tensioner pulley ,take off the timing belt, counter balancer belt if there is one. Now you can unbolt the water pump, scrape the gasket, and replace it.
The good news is, if you have tools,a compressor, an air gun (for lower pulley bolt), patience , and four to eight hours to kill, you can actually save money and do it your self.

All Mitsubishi cars pretty much hide the water pump under the timing belt. You should buy all new belts for the car and if you have 150,000+ miles consider replacing the water pump at the same time.
You will have to take off the power steering belt . First , take off the negative battery cable so you do not blow an expensive fuse on the positive battery cable clamp. Facing the back of the car , reach UNDER the alternator and loosen the bolt on the bottom right side, now loosen the bolt on the adjuster block on top, you can now turn the adjuster bolt and move the alternator to change the belt.
To take off the steering pump belt on the front of the motor, you need to loosen the nut on the back side of the pulley it holds the adjuster pulley in place . With the adjuster pulley loose , you can use the adjuster bolt to move the pulley to adjust/take off the steering pump belt.
Now take off the upper belt cover, support the motor, take off the motor mount, jack up the right front corner of the car, take off the front right tire, take off the engine plastic under cover.
Line up the TDC timing mark on the cover to the mark on the pulley, take off the lower pulleys (use an air gun and impact socket), take off the lower engine cover, observe the timing marks/arrows and highlight with paint (crank marks and cam marks should all line up if not , rotate the crankshaft one full turn.), loosen the timing belt tensioner pulley ,take off the timing belt, counter balancer belt if there is one. Now you can unbolt the water pump, scrape the gasket, and replace it.
The good news is, if you have tools,a compressor, an air gun(for lower pulley bolt), patience , and four to eight hours to kill, you can actually save money and do it your self.

All Mitsubishi cars pretty much hide the water pump under the timing belt. You should buy all new belts for the car and if you have 150,000+ miles consider replacing the water pump at the same time.
You will have to take off the power steering belt . First , take off the negative battery cable so you do not blow an expensive fuse on the positive battery cable clamp. Facing the back of the car , reach UNDER the alternator and loosen the bolt on the bottom right side, now loosen the bolt on the adjuster block on top, you can now turn the adjuster bolt and move the alternator to change the belt.
To take off the steering pump belt on the front of the motor, you need to loosen the nut on the back side of the pulley it holds the adjuster pulley in place . With the adjuster pulley loose , you can use the adjuster bolt to move the pulley to adjust the steering pump belt.
Now take off the upper belt cover, support the motor, take off the motor mount, jack up the right front corner of the car, take off the front right tire, take off the engine plastic under cover.
Line up the TDC timing mark on the cover to the mark on the pulley, check that the dot on the cam lines up with the timing arrow on the head, take off the lower pulleys, take off the lower engine cover, observe the timing marks/arrows and highlight with paint (crank marks and cam marks should all line up if not , put the lower cover and pulley back on and rotate the crankshaft one full turn.), loosen the timing belt tensioner pulley ,take off the timing belt, counter balancer belt if there is one. Now you can unbolt the water pump, scrape the gasket, and replace it.
The good news is, if you have tools,a compressor, an air gun (for lower pulley bolt), patience , and four to eight hours to kill, you can actually save money and do it your self.

Yes but that wouldn't help if you still have an over heating problem. To correct the problem, you need to replace your VW OEM plastic impeller water pump to an aftermarket metal impeller water pump. Plastic cracks at the shaft which the pulley drives and spins slower than engine speed or not at all. It's also a good time to do a timing belt service when you do this because it has to be removed out of the way to get to the pump.

There is One mark on the crankshaft pulley that needs to point almost straight down (line up mark on pulley with notch on the bottom of rear timing belt plastic cover piece). Both cam sprockets will have a notch stamped into them. these need to be pointing exactly at each other. I believe the rear cam is the intake on these engines and the front is the exhaust. When the notch is at the 3 oclock position on the intake cam, the exhaust cam needs to be at the 9 oclock position (the marks will almost touch each other). Make sure you rotate the engine over using a breaker bas on the crank pulley bolt and double (even triple check) the marks and make sure they stay lined up! This is an interference engine and if you're not lined up, get ready to put a new cylinder head on it. Also be sure to rotate the water pump pulley and line up its marks to keep the belt tensioned.

1. Remove the Alternator Belt.
2. Remove the Water Pump Pulley
3. Remove the Air Conditioner Belt and Power Steering Belt.
4. Remove the Crankshaft Pulley.
5. Remove the timing belt cover
6. Remove the timing belt tensioner pulley.
7. Remove the Timing Belt.
8. (If Replacing) Remove Idler Pulley.
Installation is reverse of removal. Keep a close eye on the timing marks on the cam sprockets to make sure you don't knock anything out of whack.

I would strongly recommend replacing the water pump while you are replacing the timing belt. (The water pump usually comes in the timing belt kit.) Otherwise you are going to have to do this all over again when your water pump goes out. Good Luck.

I think that would be the cam belt tensioner pulley.

Remove the intake? No, the water pump is in front. The water pump play can cause the belt to off track.