Pearlpower

iTrader: (2)

All good followup posts. Just make sure that you manually rotate the motor a few times to ensure all of the marks are lined up. If your off even one tooth, start all over. Patience is key here. Glad to see so many DIY here digging into their cars.

sam430

iTrader: (10)

great stuff... very clear pictures. I got a question on the water pump... these should never fail?

VVTiBob

Moving parts fail. Seals/gaskets fail too. But these pumps have been quite reliable. But NEVER is a very long long time.

gripau1

thank you for the info, I am going to get my timing belt done within 3-4 months.

mandyfig

Now I am starting to think I can do this. More reading and researching will do it.

mandyfig

Did you get yours done gripau1?

PLAYTYM

This is the post I used doing mine along with my Manual on DVD.

mandyfig

This is looking pretty good. If we can get the others who have done theirs with Tips and tricks (have plenty here already) this might be manageable. From the looks of it teh hardest job is to take out the bolt on the drive. Do you actually need to take the gear off to take off the belt?

cjs18

For me the worst of it was dismounting and re-attaching the AC compressor but your mileage may vary. At least the designers put a little hook there so it can hang out of the way as you work. If your crank bolt is torqued to factory spec you can easily release it with two 24" breakover bars in the manner described in m post. I'm sure it can be done with an impact tool as well, although you will still have to figure out how to torque it back to spec when you're done. To answer your question regarding the timing gear on the crank, no - it can stay in place. When you un-bolt the tensioner on the right side of the engine it will develop enough play to manipulate the belt off and on.

sprcarrera

Finishing up doing this myself. I couldn't figure out how to get the belt off without the special cam shaft holding tool so I just removed the tensioner. Anyone know if that was okay to do or not?

cjs18

Yes - you need to remove the tensioner to get the belt loose enough to come off. Check the last sentence of post #39.

Please do yourself a favor and read this thread from beginning to end so that you don't miss something. I seriously recommend studying the service manual procecdure but if you don't have one there may be enough information here to enable you to get the job done right.

Incidentally the camshaft positioning tool is more of a help to get the pulleys lined up with the belt when you're establishing the timing but you can get it done without. Good luck.

sprcarrera

Thanks for the reply cjs. I've ready this thread backwards and forwards multiple times but somehow missed that line. I wasn't sure if removing the tensioner under pressure like that would damage it or not, especially since you're not supposed to just bolt it in without compressing it first.

The only other thing I'm worried about is that the left (driver side) cam jumped around a couple times as I was positioning the belt. I had both cams positioned at 50* ATDC so that they were positioned at those secondary marks to the right of the tdc marks, but they still jumped another 50* or so. I'm not sure if I should be worred about the valves hitting the pistons or not.

sprcarrera

Okay, well now I just realized I put the belt on backwards. I put on with the arrows facing towards the engine instead of forward. But I made sure the the cam timing marks were lined up with the oil timimg mark at tdc so I'm sure the timing is correct. I didn't even look under the car to see where the line on the belt was in relation to the crank. So the question is, does it matter what direction the belt rotates? I'm guessing it doesn't but would like to make sure just in case.

UPDATE: After doing a little research on the net, it appears it's not a problem if the belt is on backwards as long as the timing is correct. The only thing is the line on the bottom won't line up correctly on the crankshaft. Also seems to be a somewhat common mistake.

cjs18

As you have probably figured out by now the ONLY thing that matters is that all three timing marks line up exactly every time the crankshaft pulley goes through a rotation. That's why you turn over the engine by hand a couple times to be certain that there is no interference. Also you also probably discovered that when you do that, any correspondence between the marks on the belt and those on the pulleys is lost. I assume that all went well and the engine is running again.

Vtur

Most Important, make sure the crank shaft line up with oil pump housing 1st, than line up with driver side cam pulley 2nd, than passenger side last and release tensioner. Install the belt arrow facing forward correctly for better reference.

Also recommend Honda HT bond for water pump.